


'^^6 




MAGNOLIA. 

'■^ Situated on the St. Jolius Uiver, 28 miles south ot JmksonvHle, is conceded to be one of ttie flnest, healthiest and uios 
'.beautllul locations In Florida. The. traveler, upon arrival, realizes for the first time that he has reached a tropical climate 
V. The river at this point Is 5 miles wide and the view unsurpassed. In a park of 400 acres, containing pine and orange grove 
"'and gardens where strawberries and other fruits and Howera are grown, stands the 

MAONOLIA IIOTKL, 
''••'■whk'h with Its 2(X) handsomely-furnished rooms, is provided with every modern convenience for the comfort of guee- 
-t.ilncludtng open ttres, gas, electric lights, bells, elevator and amusement hall for dancing and other entertainments. Mb 
' '-dally by Bent's orchestra ot New Vork city. ■ 

The Mtttirnollit CottuKeo. si.x iu number, contain 12 rooms each, have open fire-places, closets and every requisite 
..toinf.ort To those who jtrefer the privacy of their own home, service of meals will he provided. 

'■- ^; The Mngiiollu Siiljihiir MprliiK«, recently developed on the property, constitute an added attraction. In the .n 
T' bathing house, salpluir baths, so couducive to health, may be enjoyed. 
■■">.■ Amunemeiiti*. Steam yachts, sail and row boats have been provided, also bowling alleys, billiards, etc,, etc. . "i 

■•SPQKTSMAN will find fish and game In the neighboring streams and woods; the TOURIST can revel in the tropi 
• beauty which everywheie abounds, while the IXVAUD, escaping the rigors of a northern winter, may here enjoy 
{ Jiealthful- odor of the pines. 

:•-■■■ "How to Renoh MiiKnolla. Take Pullman car direct to .lacksonvllle. or by flrst-class steamer to Charleston, 
'"Savannah and thence by steamer to Magnolia direct, or by rail from Charleston or Savanhah or .lacksonvllle, Tarn 
'■i and Key West li. R. to .Magnolia. ('~'8 miles), or by steamer ro .Magnolia, landing at pier on the hotel grounds. 

• , Opening. The "Magnolia Cottage " opens December Sth. and the hotel December 30th. 
'• i Transient Rates, $4.00. 
vvSpkoial Rates FOP. THE Se.\9on. RICHARD H. STEARNS, Manager, 

Prop. ARGYLE HOTEL, BABYLON L. 



\ ivEKPooL & London & Qlobe 

**INSURANCE C0,^=^ 



FIRE Losses i 
Paid in U.S. ( 



$36,500,000. 



THE 

Florida Annual 

1886 



wnii 

LARGE NEW TOWNSHIP MAP, 

REVISED TO DATE. 



>J, 




EMCJ1ANGED 



EDITED BY 

C. K. MUNROE 



OFFICE OF PUBLICATION 

37 & 39 WEST 22D STREET, NEW YORK. 
1^86. 






copyright, 1886, 
By William Whitlock. 



P. 






ART INTERCHANGE PRESS, 

37 A 39 WEST 22D ST., 

NEW YORK. 



7 able of Conte^tts. 



The Annual for 1886. 



PACE 
5 

Introduction to First Edition. By Mrs. H. B. Stowe 6 

Florida Sectionally Considered. By R. C. Long- 
West Florida 

Middle Florida ......*...*....!.. 14 

East Florida J, 

22 

South Florida , 

30 

Preparing Land for an Orange Grove. By Major O. P. Rooks 46 

A Model Florida Farm -^ 

Resources of Florida — 

Staple Commodities 

Tropical and Semi-Tropical Fruits , . 

Small Fruits ^ 

Early Vegetables * g 

Woods " , 

Stock Raising /• 

F-h ^-.^v.'.;;;;.;;;:;;;:;:;::::;::::;;;::; el 

Fertilizers 

Springs 71 

Florida Lands. By R. C. Long 

How to Procure Them 

73 

Their Characteristics 

^ 75 

State Government 

79 

The Public Schools of Florida. By H. N. Felkel 82 

Traveler's Guide to Florida. By Kirk Munroe— 

Hints to Tourists and Invalids a . 

Routes and Places go 

Hints to Sportsmen. By " Al Fresco" 

Hunting 

Fishing ^^ 

^ 103 



J^, Tabic of Coiitt'nts. , 

The Indian River. By Wallace R. Moses i I'd 

Lake Worth ' "6 

Up the Ocklawaha i IQ 

The Fountain of Youth : Pascha Florida. A Dream of Ponce de Leon 123 

The Florida Rose 124 

Statistical Tables. Prepared by Charles a Choate— 

L Chronological 125 

IL Distances from Jacksonville 127 

in. Latitude and Longitude 133 

IV. Areas and County Sites 134 

V. Population 135 

VI. List of Governors 137 

VII. United States Officers 138 

VIII. State and County Officers 140 

IX. Important Laws 149 

X. Public Lands 150 

XL Railroads, Canals and Telegraph lines 151 

XII. Church Organizations 154 

XIII. Masonic and Other Societies 155 

XIV. State Census 158 

XVI. Meterological Record 160 

XVII. Florida Post Offices 164 

XVIII. A List of the Forest Trees of Florida 170 

XIX. School Statistics 176 

Publisher's Department 177 

Advertisements 178 

Items of Interest 179 



s 



The Aiimial Jor 1886. 

~^ O great was the demand for last year's Annual, that it was found 
necessary to pubhsh a second edition, which has, at this time of 
writing, become entirely exhausted. This fact shows that the 
periodical is a necessity to all contemplating a residence in, or a visit to, 
the State of Florida, and that the demand for the information contained 
within its covers is steadily increasing. Much of the matter in this 
publication is of such a standard character as to require no changes 
from year to year. Some portions of the book are entirely re-written to 
meet the exigencies of each successive season, and other pages are 
carefully, revised, in order that they may keep pace with the rapid devel- 
opment of the wonderful region in whose interest they are printed. 

There is one feature of this rapid development of the State, that is so 
detrimental to its best interests, that it is clearly the duty of the Annual 
to utter a word of warning, and caution its readers against it. This is 
the effort, on the part of unscrupulous real estate speculators, to foist 
upon the unsuspecting public large tracts of worthless Florida lands at 
fancy prices. Their plan of operation is to acquire at a nominal price, 
say $1.25 per acre, several thousand acres of land, generally remote 
from any railroad or navigable stream. They form a company with a. 
catching title such as "The Sunny Southern Home Company," "The 
Poor Man's Safe Investment Company," or "The Paradise Park Land 
Company," publish a glittering prospectus containing a map of the pro- 
posed town or winter resort, on which are laid down broad avenues, 
spacious squares, and many other delightful things that exist only in 
imagination, fill the papers with flaming advertisements, and open pleas- 
ant offices in northern cities for the reception of their victims. They 
generally offer building lots of 50 x loo ft. or 40 x 200 ft. for five dollars 
a lot, and say that after the first month prices will be raised to $7 50, 
and at the end of another month to $10 per lot; and that thus those 
who purchase during the first month will at least have doubled their 
money in two months' time, even if they do nothing with their lands. 
In this way thousands of acres of utterly unproductive lands, about as 
valuable for the location of homes as though they were in the heart of 
the everglades, are annually sold to persons, who, when they come to 
visit them, are inclined to revile the whole State, declare it a worthless 
sand heap, and all its real estate men a set of sharks and swindlers. 
Within the past few months Marion County, which, taken as a whole., 



6 The Animal for 1886. 

is one of the richest and most fertile in the State, has been particularly 
unfortunate in having several of^ these "schemes'" located within its 
borders. There is plenty of good land in Florida to be had of honest 
real estate agents, at reasonable prices ; but he who purchases without a 
personal examination of the propert}' in question, or at least thoroughly 
satisfying himself, by careful inquiry from reliable parties, is more than 
likely to find himself the dupe of some of the sj>urious schemers above 
uientioned. 

As, in addition to attracting the attention of immigrants, Florida is 
each year becoming more and more popular as the winter resort of tour- 
ists, and transportation facilities within its borders are being extended 
with marvelous rapidity, *'The Traveler's Guide" has been made an 
enlarged and important feature of this year's Annual. This is supple- 
mented by a number of tables of distances over various railroad and 
steam-ship lines, which will be found among the "Items of Interest." 

A.S Florida stands alone and unrivaled as a winter resort and a home 
for the countless number of those who are unable or unwilling to endure 
the rigors of a northern winter, so the Florida Annual occupies the 
position of the sole representative abroad of all sections of the State. It 
is controlled by no company or individual interest, and is only published 
v.-ith the view of disseminating the most reliable information to all who 
are in any degree interested in the great State which it aims to represent. 

The Editor. 



Introduction to First Edition. 



BY MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 

HEN the editor of this Annual came to me in Florida, last 
winter, and asked me if I would undertake its introduction to 
my kind friends — the public — I readily consented to do so. 
I did this because I knew that such a periodical as he proposed to 
publish was greatly needed in Florida, and would meet a long-felt want. 
Having known the editor for years, I also knew that he was personally 
acquainted with Florida, its people, its resources, and its needs, and was 
well qualified to represent them to the world at large. 

My readiness to accede to his request was, however, chiefly because 
I foresaw that the publication of his Annual would afTord me^the means 
■of furnishing trustworthy information in reply to constant letters of 
inquiry, which were being addressed to me and to which I had neither the 
time nor strength to leply. 



Introduction. y 

During my years of winter residence in Florida I have been beset 
■with letters, from every portion of this and other countries, containing 
all manner of inquiries about Florida. Invalids have written for infor- 
mation as to its climate, poor men and women to have me tell them 
how to gain a livelihood from its soil, and rich men concerning invest- 
ments in its lands, or orange groves. I have been asked questions 
regarding its school system, the religious privilege?, and the lands of 
Florida. How much land does the United States own, how much still 
belongs to the State, and how many acres have been granted to rail- 
roads and canals? What are the homestead laws? What the rates of 
taxation ; and what is the feeling of Floridians towards Northerners ? 
What is the best soil for growing oranges, and which for raising cab- 
bages ? Is the rearing of silk-worms in Florida profitable ? Is there 
much danger to be apprehended from alligators, snakes, poisonous in- 
sects or plants ? Are fevers prevalent ? Is Florida possessed of any 
mineral wealth : if so, how much; and if not, why not? Some writers 
have desired me to send them descriptions of the most attractive resorts 
in Florida with lists of their hotels and boarding-houses, together with 
rates of fare and board. All these questions have been propounded to 
me, and I have spent much time in answering them to the best of 
my ability. 

I now find the most important of them answered in this Annual, 
which in addition contains a store of information as valuable to me as 
it must be to all who take a near, or even remote, interest in the past, 
present, or future of Florida. Therefore I shall hereafter refer my 
correspondents to its pages for answers to their various questions, and 
I feel assured that in making such reference I am doing them a greater 
service than if I undertook to write personal replies to their several 
letters. 

The removal of the home to a new country involves many grave 
considerations, and should not be undertaken lightly or unadvisedly ; 
and a work like this furnishes those stores of information which are 
necessary for making up an intelligent judgment: as such 1 recommend 
it to all who seek a home in Florida. 

IlARTFORn, Conn., July 24, 1883. 










cEvcvrTof I •? 




J, M. LEE, 

Proprietor. 

ALSO OI" THE 

Sanford House, 

Sankoud. 

Hotel India Kivkk, 
Rock Ledue. 

Leon Hotel, 
Tallahassee. Fla. 



THE NEW EVERETT HOTEL 

(As P^ni,ai;<;ed is tiik) 

Largest, most costly, and being- 
built entirely of Brick. Stone 
and Iron, is the safest Hotel in 
Jacksonville. 120 "Rooms, witli 
batlis and closets. 100 Rooms 
commanding view of St. Johns 
Rriver. 535 feet of continnous 
piazza. The Hotel fronts north, 
southeast and west. Steam heat, 
^levator and elegant music. 



.) V( KS«>>V!LLt;, 

I'LOHIOA. 

Loading Winter Re- 
sort Hotels of the 
United States. 

OPEN DECEMBER TO 
MAY. 



I'Ol'ULAR PKICE8. 



FloT' ida Sectionally Considered. 



BY K. C. LONG. 



THE State of Florida is divided into four geographical sections, 
commonly designated as West, Middle, East, and South Florida. 
There is really no such division legally authorized ; but by its 
citizens such a subdivision of territory is tacitly recognized, 
and the several parts are always spoken of by the above names. 
All of that portion of the State lying south of the State of Alabama 
and west of the Apalachicola River, embracing the counties of Escam- 
bia, Santa Rosa, Walton, Holmes, W^ashington, Jackson, and Calhoun, 
is known as W^est Florida. 

The section of country lying between the Apalachicola and 
Suwanee Rivers, embracing the counties of Gadsden, Liberty, Frank- 
lin, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Lafayette, and Hamil- 
ton, is known as Middle Florida. 

That portion of the State situated east of the Suwanee River and 
north of the 29th parallel of latitude, embracing the counties of 
Suwanee, Columbia, Baker, Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. John's, Putnam, 
Bradford, Alachua, Levy, Marion, and Volusia, is termed East Flor- 
ida. 

That immense region in the peninsula south of the 29th parallel, 
containing the counties of Hernando, Sumter, Orange, Hillsborough, 
Polk, Brevard, Manatee, Dade, and Monroe, is called South Florida. 

The four following articles are intended to present a descriptive 
outline of these several sections in the order named : 



WEST FLORIDA. 

Outside of the old Spanish town of Pensacola, West Florida re- 
mained cut off from the balance of the world until the opening of the 
Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad, which was finished in 1883, from Pensa- 
cola to Chattahooche on the Apalachicola River, where, after pass- 
ing through the counties of Santa Rosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, 
and Jackson, it connects with the western terminus of the Florida 
Railway and Navigation Company's Road, which traverses the State 
eastwardly to Jacksonville on the St. John's River. 

9 



lO Florida Sectionally Considered — West Florida. 

Before the construction of this trunk line, connecting at Pensa- 
C(^la with the Louisville and Nashville system of railways, there was 
IK) means of getting into or out of this great western territory of the 
State except by tedious traveling over heavy roads in private convey- 
ance, or by means of some of the little mail hacks, often n(jthing 
more commodious than an old rickety buggy, that plied between 
the widely separated country post-offices. Notwithstanding this fact, 
very considerable settlement had been made in these western counties 
as early as 1830. when the population of the seven counties amounted 
to 10,678, and, without any organized plan of inducing immigration, 
and entirely without any facilities of transporting people, enough from 
the outside world had straggled into that part of Florida to bring its 
population up to 45,233 in 1880, only about 9,000 of which are to be 
credited to the city of Pensacola ; so that in a period of fifty years, in 
the first thirty of which it was subjected to all those embarrassments 
that attend the settlement of a new frontier country, and the last twenty 
years to those never- to- be -described impediments that attend civil 
war, bankruptcy, reconstruclion, and resurrection, this western portion 
of Florida his more than doubled her population twice, which is quite as 
good a showing as can be made by any part of the South, and perhaps 
of the Union, except those Western Stales which owe their phenomenal 
development to the great tide of European immigration daily poured 
into them, and of which none has been directed to West Florida. 

The settlers of this region have been chiefly from the Southern 
States — Alabama, Tennessee, Oeorgia, and the Carolinas furnishing the 
greater part. In the Euchee Valley, in Walton County, many years ago, 
settled a colony of educated Scotch farmers, who have bred a race of 
Macs in those regions who have long been the moving spirits of the 
country, supplying able men for every position of trust, usefulness, and 
responsibility. 

The inducements that have brought together this population of 
45,000 and upward have been very simple : none of the extra- 
ordinary causes that sometimes in a few years, or even months, throw a 
great concourse of people into a section of country recently a wilderness 
— such as the discovery of gold, the opening of mines, or the "striking 
of oil." Nothing analogous to the orange grove and tropical fruit 
craze, that has done so much in settling other parts of the State, has 
had anythmg to do with carrying people to West Florida ; but gradu- 
ally, almost one by one, these people have drifted down from more 
Northern States with their families and household effects transported in 
wagons, in search of healthful locations where the soil was fertile enough 
to be turned to agricultural pursuits, and the natural vegetation sufficient 
to sustain their flocks. No country his yet been discovered that possessed 
all the advantages that covetous men desire, and many of the prime ob- 
jects sought by immigrants in other lands may be wanting in that section ; 
but certainly, in one or two particulars, it stands without a rival outside 
of the State to which it belongs. A perfect climate and determined 
healthfulness may be regarded as chief among the attractions. 

The country is comparatively high, not, indeed, in comparison with 



Florida Sectionally Considered — West Florida. 1 1 

Kentucky, Tennessee, or North Georgia, but so very much higher than 
mucli of Louisiana, Mississippi, the coast counties of Carolina and 
Georgia and the peninsular portion of Florida, as to be considered in 
these latitudes quite elevated. Certainly the point of greatest altitude 
in Florida is to be found in Walton County. The proximity of the Gulf, 
and the boundless extent of forest reaching in every direction, tend to 
equalize temperatures and make the climate one of the most delightful 
to be found anywhere. We have no data from which to compile a table 
of diurnal temperatures for this part of the State, but from personal 
experience can pronounce it almost identical with that of Tallahassee 
in the middle section of the State, where the latitude and other topo- 
graphical conditions are very much the same, and we refer here to a 
meteorological table, to be found elsewhere in this book, for a fair 
reading of the mean temperature of the western portion of the State. 

Of the healthfulness of West Florida, as indeed of the balance of the 
State, we can speak in the highest praise. There is no longer question 
of the established fact that most of the diseases prevalent in the United 
States, when they occur, as most of them sometimes do, in Florida, are 
universally of a milder type than they assume elsewhere. 

Pensacola, being a port to which shipping from the West Indies and 
South American ports is constantly arriving, has been subject to 
visitations of yellow fever, which has several times become epidemic 
there and caused many deaths, and it is quite probable that this will 
continue to be the case. It, however, never spreads into the country, 
and the country residents of Escambia County have never had cause to 
feel any apprehension on the score of yellow fever. 

THE SOILS 

of West Florida are of several varieties of marked differences. The 
greater portion of the section is sandy and not possessed of any won- 
derful degree of fertility, yet it is rarely so poor as not to give very 
satisfactory returns to labor bestowed upon it. 

Certain portions, however, possess as choice agricultural lands as are 
to be found in the South Jackson County, for instance, is one of the 
richest agricultural regions of Florida. In it clay predominates in the 
soil, and abundant crops of corn, cotton, cane, potatoes, oats, rye, rice, 
and hay are made by its farmers. Since the recent provision of railroad 
facilities, no section of Florida offers greater inducements to a class 
of farmers of moderate means who desire cheap lands of excellent 
quality, generally cleared, where staple farm crops can be profitably 
handled. 

Some excellent farming lands are to be found in Walton and Holmes 
Counties also, and what are known as the Euchee Anna Valley Lands 
in Walton are the centres of much prosperous husbandry. 

Calhoun County can boast of much excellent hammock land. The 
resources of this county have not as yet been developed, but the time 
is near at hand when the attention of immigrants will be directed to 
the Chipola country in Calhoun County. In it are orange groves, of 



12 Florida Sectionally Considered — West Florida. 

which no boasts have been made, that would open wide with surprise 
the eyes of some of the proprietors in the " orange belt." It is safe to 
predict a future of wonderful prosperity for Calhoun County. 

One of the attractions that West Florida offers to immigrants is 
the adaptiveness of much of the greater part of its area to profitable 
stock raising, especially sheep. The country is well watered, not with 
ponds, cypress swamps, and lagoons ; but with clear running streams, 
having their sources in determined springs. The natural grasses of 
the pine woods in this part of Florida are more diversified and of a finer 
character than on the pine lands of other parts of the State, and afford 
very satisfactory food to flocks and herds. The grazing qualities of 
West Florida do not compare with those of some parts of Texas and 
other Western States and Territories, where mesquite and other noted 
grasses abound ; but we question whether sheep raising is not really 
more profitable in West Florida than in any of the Western States, 
where the grass is naturally better, because of the small percentage of 
loss from severe weather and diseases. Such cold winds, accom- 
panied with rain, as occur in Texas, for instance, so constantly 
during the lambing season, and are such prolific sources of loss to 
flock owners, are entirely unknown in West Florida, Avhere the perfect 
equability of the climate allows the safe dropping of lambs in the open 
fields and woodlands throughout the entire winter. No housing nor 
extra v/inter feed is necessary to keep a flock in fair condition. The 
abundant shade, absence of waxy mud, cacti, burrs, etc., are also items 
to be considered. Certain it is that the ownership of flocks has for 
some years been found to be attended with steady and sure profits in 
West Florida, and it is practically the only part of the State where this 
industry has assumed such proportions as to entitle it to be ranked 
among the available resources of the section. 

The Census of 1880 shows returns of something over 54,000 sheep 
for the seven counties of West Florida, and, as most of those engaged 
in the business had recently become so, it is likely that 1890 will find 
twenty times as many fleeces in Florida west of the Apalachicola as in 
1880. 

The permanent improvement of the open range pasturage by the 
introduction on those lands of the Bermuda and other grasses, grown 
so successfully in Middle Florida, is declared to be entirely practicable, 
and in many instances has already been successfully accomplished. 

The cattle of this part of Florida are larger and fatter, owing to the 
better character of the pasture, than those of the southern portion of 
the State. There are in West Florida no " cow men " who count their 
horns on so extensive a scale as some of the "cattle kings" of the 
southern part of the State ; but nevertheless there are some large and 
profitable herds in this section. The Census of 1880 shows upward 
of 62,000 cattle in the seven counties of West Florida, Jackson County 
alone claiming 11,727 head, and, as Jackson is an agriculiural county, 
having 70,000 acres of land — more than 10 per cent, of its total area — 
improved and under cultivation, it compares very well in its cattle in- 
terest with even Manatee County of the south, which has 2,995,200 



Florida Sectionally Considered — West Florida. 13 

acres, with but 1,993 acres under cultivation, and with ?iooo head of 
cattle. 

Since the completion of the railroad through West Florida a great 
impetus has been given to its cattle trade. Texas is sending numer- 
ous buyers to that section, who are paying the highest prices for stock 
cattle. 

In the past, as probably for some years in the future, the most ex- 
tensive industry and source of wealth to West Florida has been and 
will be, the handling of her ' 



PINE TIMBER, 

than which no finer supply, both as to quantity and quality, is to be 
found in the South. 

The fine harbor of Pensacola has for years attracted the ships of all 
nations in quest of the great stores of yellow pine timber and lumber 
to be obtained there ; and mills for the manufacture of these com- 
modities have been for a long time operated at Pensacola, at several 
points on Escambia Bay, the Blackwater, and the Apalachicola. But 
as only such parts of the great pine forest have been invaded as the 
"logmen" found easily accessible to the currents of the Escambia 
Blackwater, Yellow River, Choctawhachie, Chipola, and Apalachicola 
Rivers, the sawing of lumber in that section of the State is but in its 
infancy. The construction of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad 
alone will make available the standing timber on millions of acres 
that heretofore have been shut out from the world's commerce Every 
month now sees the establishing of additional mills a^ng the line of 
this great highway, and, as heavy as have been Pensacola's exports here- 
tofore, they are likely to be doubled in a year or two, or as soon as the 
outside world discovers the opportunities for the safe investment of 
capital in the timber lands of these western counties. The following 
is a statement of the shipment of lumber from Pensacola for the years 
ending October 31, 1881 and 1882, respectively : 



FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31, 1881. 



IJE8TINATION. 



Tonnage. 



Great ^Britain 246 

Continent of Europe | gy 

Africa and Australia 6 

W. Indies, S. America, &c. 85 

Coastwise 130 

Total i 564' 339, 182 



195,920 

55,336 

4.592 

33,083 

50.251 



Hewed Timber Sawed Timber Lumber, 
Cubic Feet. Cubic Feet. Lineal Ft. 



3,669,703 
878,844 

5,565 
39,908 
29,366 



4,623,386 



5,773,185 

756,888 

193,595 

19.342 



13,109,000 

I 7,078,000 

395,000 

21,663.000 

34,073,000 



6,743,010 {88,318,000 



14 Florida Sectionally Considered — Middle Florida. 

FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31, 1882. 



DESTINATION. 


> 


Tonnage. 


Hewed Timber 
Cubic Feet. 


Sawed Timber 
Cubic Feet. 


Lumber, 
Lineal Ft. 


Great Britain 

Continent of Europe.. . . 
Africa, Australia, &c . . . . 
W. Indies, S. America,&c. 
Coastwise 


263 
134 

6 
134 
125 


215,477 
80,250 

3,335 
55,158 
55.716 


3,19^417 

1,248,418 

24,782 

57,919 
81,042 


6,914,573 

1.647,931 

23.509 

129,585 


13,996,000 

17.305,000 

1,595,000 

35,112,000 

37,943,000 




Total 


662 


409,936 


4.603,57s 


8.715,598 


105,951,000 





Life has but just begun for West Florida ; so entirely has it been 
isolated heretofore that it has known but little of the outside world. 
For fifty years her councilors and legislators have had long miles of 
dense forest to traverse in the saddle, rivers to swim, and days to spend 
in reaching the capitol at Tallahassee ; and, as few human beings have 
the push of the average member of a legislature, it was natural that, 
under these uninviting conditions, their constituency should have re- 
ceived but small accessions from beyond their borders. But now the 
most southern of all the great iron highways that connect the waters of 
the Pacific and the Atlantic passes east and west through the heart of 
this fine territory. A stream* of travel has already entered Florida over 
it, and another season will show the section to thousands of eyes that 
will see more or less to attract them. The population, capital, and 
industries of these western counties will undoubtedly double in the 
next ten years. What West Florida has to offer is substantial, and 
shows for itself. 



MIDDLE FLORIDA. 



Middle Florida embraces the counties of Gadsden, Liberty, Frank- 
lin, Wakulla, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Taylor, Lafayette, and Hamil- 
ton, and occupies that section of the State lying between the Suwanee 
and Apa^achicola Rivers, 

The northern portion of this area, or so much of the counties of Mad- 
ison, Jefferson, Leon, and Gadsden as lie north of the line of the 
Florida Railway and Navigation Company's Road, is a section entirely 
unlike any other in Florida. The yellow-pine trees, and level, sandy 
lands, so conspicuous elsewhere in Florida, are not found here ; but in 
their stead is a high, rolling country, a firm, clayey soil, and, where not 
cleared and under cultivation, magnificent forests of oaks of many 
varieties, hickory, ash, cherry, sweet-gum. poplar, magnolia, and many 
other hard-wood trees. 

The general appearance of this hill country is so unlike the greater 



Florida Sect tonally Considered- — Middle Florida. 1 5 

portion of the State, that a traveler who for days before has been gazing 
into the gloomy depths of endless pine woods, with their weird same- 
ness, can scarcely credit his senses when he glances at this beautifully 
picturesque region from the car windows. This section of Middle 
Florida is an oasis of rich agricultural country, situated in the great 
pine waste of southern Georgia and northern Florida. It bears un- 
mistakable evidences of belonging to the geological period of volcanic 
upheaval that made the West Indies. Scientists recognize in this dis- 
turbance relations to the Andean rather than the Alleghanean system. 
It is probable that this part of Florida was for ages an island in the 
warm Southern seas, its tropical hill-tops rich in forest life, long before 
the little coral masons laid the foundation of the reefs on which the 
sea-waves have since raised the peninsula and coast line of the State. 

As long ago as 1823, the commissioners authorized to select and 
locate the site of the territorial capital were induced by the beauty of 
this region to determine upon it as the most suitable place in the new- 
ly-acquired country for the establishment of its seat of government, 
and Tallahassee was laid out on its hill-tops, Immediately after the 
establishment of the United States Land Ofifice at the capital, the fer- 
tility of the extensive belt of red clay lands in this middle region at- 
tracted the attention of wealthy planters in Virginia and the Carolinas, 
who at once began entering the fine hammocks, and removing to 
them their large families of slaves. 

In a very few years broad acres of the mighty forest had fallen be- 
fore the busy axes of the slave forces, and the fertile plateaux and val- 
leys were as rapidly converted into fields of corn, cane, cotton, and 
tobacco. 

The wonderful productiveness of this semi-tropical region was 
soon a source of immense profit to its fortunate owners. The young 
capital began to grow and prosper, and was soon the home of people 
of cultivation and taste, who constructed comfortable and in some in- 
stances luxurious homes, in which for many years was expended a 
bounteous hospitality, that made the Tallahassee country famous for 
the attractiveness of its social surroundings. Very much the same 
atmosphere extended into the adjoining counties of Gadsden, Jeffer- 
son, and Madison, and the pretty little towns of Quincy, Monticello, 
and Madison gathered around them a population of wealthy men. 
This was then the Florida. The growing of oranges was never engaged 
in by these plantation proprietors for profit ; and, notwithstanding that 
the great St. John's flowed as majestically then as now, the fact that 
nowhere on its banks was the land fertile enough to encourage agri- 
cultural pursuits forbade the opening of plantations there. 

The Civil War, and its attendant consequences, put an end, tempo- 
rarily, to the prosperity of this Middle region of the State. Many an 
old mansion, once the scene of gayety and luxury, now stands a 
decaying ruin — in the vicinity of the towns of Middle Florida — amid 
the splendid trees of surrounding parks, deserted by its once proud 
but generous inmates, who, in the unsettled state of things succeeding 
the war, removed to the towns for mutual protection. Other grand 



1 6 Florida Sectionally Considered — Middle Florida. 

old homes have been consumed by fire and decay. Long hnes of 
tumble-down negro quarters, dilapidated sugar and gin houses, and 
abandoned orchards catch the eye from almost every prominent hill-top, 
and, despite the really beautiful natural surroundings, an observer must 
feel sad at the many evidences of departed glory and happiness. 

The country above described has been called by a brilliant and de- 
lightful writer, " The Tallahassee Country, or Piedmont Florida," and 
his descriptions are so truthful and pleasant that we cannot do better 
than to quote what he says. He thus describes the view westward 
from the high hill on which the City of Tallahassee is situated : 

" Towardsevery side the hills swelled up, colored with colors that 
suggested fertility and abundance ; their rounded brows, their slopes, the 
valleys between them were full of green crops ; comfortable home- 
steads and farm buildings reposed in the distance, each cluster of 
which had its own protecting grove of oaks standing about it in the be- 
nignant attitudes of outer lares and penaies; it was that sort of pros- 
pect which the grave old English v/riters would have called ' goodlye, 
pleasaunt and smylynge.' These hills carried with them no associa- 
tions of hills. They did not in the least suggest agitations or upheavals. 
They only seemed to be great level uplands, distended like udders 
with a bounteous richness almost too large for their content. And this 
indeed has always been the tone of things — not only of the hills, but of 
the social life in Tallahassee." 

Of the many beautiful lakes the same writer says : 

" Lake La Fayette — so called from its situation on the estate granted 
to the Marquis de La Fayette by the United States — Lake Jackson, 
Lake Bradford, Lake Miccosukie and Lake lamonia (pronounced with 
the I long and the accent on the antepenult) [all in Leon County], all 
form charming objective points for excursions and offer substantial 
results of fine fish, as well as lovely views by way of invitations. Wild 
duck, brant, and geese are also found, often in great numbers. * * 
* * The environment of these lakes is varied and beautiful. The 
hills surround them with gently receding curves, now with bolder bluffs, 
now with terraces rising one above another to the height of a hundred 
feet in all ; many growths of great, glossy-leaved magnolias, of water- 
oaks and live-oaks, of hickory, ash, wild cherry, and mock orange, 
glorify the shores ; and between, around, and over these hang the 
clematis, the woodbine, and wild grape vines." 

It was in this part of Florida that the very complicated and peculiar 
political process, termed reconstruction, most particularly worked it- 
self out. Much of the former wealth of the people consisted of slaves, 
who were owned in great numbers in the counties of Gadsden, Leon, 
Wakulla, Jefferson, and Madison, and so outnumbered the white popula- 
tion, that, under the administration of the carpet-bag regime, which relied 
upon the support of these n?wly liberated people entirely for its hold 
upon the State government, the social establishment was more entirely 
upset, and a more lasting injury was done in this section than any- 
where else in Florida. 

The colored race in the South have never shown themselves a 



Florida Sectio7ially Considered — Middle Florida. ly 

vicious people. On the contrary, history offers no parallel of a people 
exhibiting more universal amiability and docility. Such teachers and 
lessons as the Southern negroes were subjected to, by the very unprin- 
ciplad and reckless class of carpet-bag adventurers who became their 
political leaders after the war, would have made of any other 
race of men on earth a host of fiends. But it was a rare ex- 
ception when the most designing white politician could so far inflame 
the passions of one of these people as to make use of him as an insti- 
gator of riot and disorder ; and when this did occur, it was gen- 
erally with some idle but nervous individual in whose veins there was 
more Caucasian than African blood. Nevertheless the political tur- 
moil, that was diligently kept up in Middle Florida by the white leaders 
of the negro cohorts until 1876, when the administration of the State 
government passed into the hands of Floridians, retarded the progress 
of the middle portion of the State many years. Leagues, midnight 
drills, secret societies, politically-religious, or religiously-political har- 
ranguings and teachings, at which the attendance of every male 
and female was exacted by the political preachers, kept the colored 
people in a state of feverish excitement, and caused them to neglect 
their farms and crops, to abandon the country in large numbers and 
flock to the towns. Intemperance rapidly gained a hold upon them as 
a people, and all their suspicions and fears were kept aroused toward 
the whites. 

The majority of the negroes, being idle, were soon led to pilfer and 
steal. Thousands of cattle, hogs, and sheep were stolen and de- 
stroyed. Families, who owned thousands of acres of land on which 
large herds had been profitably kept for years, found it difficult, even by 
the utmost watchfulness, to protect and keep a single cow. The sheriffs, 
constables, justices of the peace, and bailiffs, were all negroes ; the 
juries were the same, and to bring a thief to justice was simply impos- 
sible. So that very soon no effort even was made to restrain the wide- 
spread waste and ruin that resulted. 

With this state of affairs, which grew rapidly worse and worse, from 
1865 to 1876, the condition of the country very naturally became des- 
perate. 

Planters and farmers who had struggled to embrace the situation, 
and who, fully recognizing that a radical change in their circumstances 
demanded a corresponding change in their conduct and management, 
had sought by every legitimate means to overcome the manifold ob- 
stacles thrown in their way, and to adapt themselves to the temper of 
things, gradually became disheartened. Crops, for want of proper 
work, were abandoned. Year after year prices declined. Encum- 
brances matured. Taxes were quadrupled to support the corrupt and 
extravagant government. The sheriff's hammer was raised, and mer- 
cilessly fell on the hearthstones of the people. Land rapidly depre- 
ciated in value. Estates that in 1861, or even in 1865, were valued at $25 
to $50 per acre, were knocked off at foreclosure sales at $1.50 to $3.00 
per acre, and even then bid in by the mortgagees. 

Certainly no section of the South could have become more absolutely 



a8 Florida Sectionally Cofisidercd — MiddU Florida, 

dead and unprosperous than Middle Florida. While men and money 
were rapidly being attracted to the eastern part of the State, and hotels 
and orange groves were springing up every day along the St. John's and 
the shores of the inland lakes of the peninsula, not a sign of improve- 
ment nor advance could be noted in Middle Florida. No public spirit 
could be aroused. Men seemed unable to even hope for a change. 
This was the condition of things up to the close of 1876; but m the fall 
of that year the clouds began to break. The State government passed 
into the hands of citizens of the State. The carpet-bag and scallawag 
office-holders and their henchmen were discharged from further duty. 
Men of integrity and character were entrusted with the administration 
of affairs, and immediately a reaction set in. 

Allusion has been made to these dismal days of reconstruction 
merely as explanatory of the causes which have operated to retard the 
advance of the middle section of the State, while the eastern and south- 
ern sections were so rapidly filling up with settlers from all parts of 
the world. 

But the wave of prosperity that has gradually raised itself and been 
sweeping over the Southern States has at last reached this charming, 
but of late neglected, part of Florida. The spirit of improvement is 
aroused and fairly getting abroad in the land. New railroads are 
being proposed and built, and old lines repaired and extended. 

Until recently Middle Florida could only be reached from the North 
and West, after a long circuitous journey by way of Jacksonville or 
Live Oak, over a very rough line of rail. Now, under a consolidation 
effected in 1884, the Florida Central and Western Railway from Jackson- 
ville to the Chattahoochee River is a well equipped branch of the great 
Florida Railway and Navigation Company's .system. Its track h;is 
been relaid with steel rai's, and, connecting at its western terminus with 
the Louisville and Nashville, Pensacola and Atlantic line, it gives 
quick and direct transit from all points north and west through West 
Florida to all points in the middle section, and thence, via Jacksonville, 
to all points in the east and south. The Savannah, Florida and West- 
ern Railroad Co. have also made a connection from their trunk line in 
Southern Georgia through the county of Gadsden to Chattahoochee, 
thus supplying much-needed transportation facilities to the region of 
splendid lands lying in the northern and western parts of the State. 
The Thomasville, Tallahassee and Gulf Railroad Company, chartered 
by the last Legislature, have already secured their right of way from 
Thomasville, in Georgia, through the beautiful hill country of Leon 
County, via Tallahassee, and across the great hammock and timber 
belts of Wakulla County, to the new and thriving town of Rio Carra- 
belle on St. James' Island, where ships of heavy tonnage from all parts 
of the world ride at anchor in the deep water of Dog Island Harbor. 
Another thoroughfare has been surveyed, called the Georgia, Florida 
and Midland Railroad, to run west from Gainesville, in Alachua County, 
to Old Town on the Suwanee, and thence northwesterly, through the 
splendid lands of Taylor and Lafayette Counties, into Jefferson, Leon, 
and Gadsden, and thence to Montgomery, Alabama. 



Florida Sectionally Considered — Middle Florida. 19 

New and elegant steamers are plying the waters of the Apalachi- 
cola. 

Commodious hotels, with all modern conveniences, are being built. 
Tallahassee possesses fine hotels in the Leon, the Morgan and the 
St James. Monticello and Madison have both organized hotel com- 
panies, and have built and opened fine places of entertainment for the 
winter visiters who are brought to them by the new lines of travel. 
Foreign ca;> 'al is stepping in and finding investments in lands and 
manufactories. Home money, that has lain hidden away since the dark 
days of '65, is coming to light and declares itself ready to assist in re- 
habilitating the land. Coats & Co., the great thread-making Scotch- 
men, have found in Madison County an <Tbundant supply of the finest 
long staple cotton ; and in Mr. John Englis they have engaged a super- 
intendent under whose direction an extensive spinning establishment 
has been located to prepare the raw material for their mills abroad. 

The very elevated character of the country in the northern part 
of Middle Florida, and the nature of the scenery and surroundings, 
where gracefully swelling hill-sides, open valleys, green and invit- 
ing meadows, great areas of well-kept farm lands, with cosy settlements, 
patches of deep, semi-tropical forest, where the high arches of the live- 
oak are filled with waving palms, deep, clear-water lakes meeting among 
the hiils which rise precipitously from the water's edge, are thrown to- 
gether in delightful confusion— and all this where the roadways are 
hard and smooth, horses and vehicles abundant, and hotel accommoda- 
tions excellent, is well calculated to prove very attractive to that mass 
of restless visitors who visit this sunny clime in winter. 

No great water-way, like the St. John's of the east, invites the excur- 
sionist ; but that great resource of pleasure-seekers, riding and driving, 
can be as thoroughly enjoyed in Middle Florida as anywhere in the 
world. 

In every direction from the towns along the line of the Florida Rail- 
way and Navigation Company's Road, excellent roads, free from sand 
or mud, extend into the surrounding country. 

Springs out of which rivers emerge with a single burst, as large at 
their source as at any point along their course, abound in Middle Flor- 
ida. Chief among these is the wonderful Wakulla Spring, in the county 
of the same name. It is 400 feet in diameter and 180 feet deep, and 
yet so entirely pellucid that the smallest coin can be seen upon its bot- 
tom. 

The palm-grown banks of the Ocklocknee, Sopchoppy, Wakulla, 
St. Mark's, Aucilla, Wacissa, Econfeenee, Finhaloway, and Steinhatchee 
are as weird and tropical in their appearance as the most enthusiastic 
explorer could desire. 

Game is so abundant that it is questionable whether finer sport can 
be found anywhere than in the extensive covers among the large plan- 
tations of Middle and Western Florida, in which quail abound. 

The strongest recommendatory feature of Middle Florida, and one 
that v/ill outweigh all others with a large class of practical men, is the 
fact that so large a part of it is so admirably adapted to mixed farm- 



20 Florida Sectionally Considered — Middle Florida. 

ing. The very extensive plai)tation clearings in Gadsden, Wakulla, 
Leon, Jefferson, and Madison Counties offer facilities to settlers for ob- 
taining small farms of from i6o to 320 or more acres, already cleared 
and grassed, on which all the staple farm crops can be profitably grown, 
improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and swine kept ; and with the great 
fertilizing assistance of these latter, together with the natural strength 
and durability of the clayey loam, early vegetable growing for North- 
ern markets, at a season when this region virtually commands a monop- 
oly of the market, can be made a most profitable and interesting ad- 
junct to the regular operations of the farm. 

The long list of fruits and berries that find a genial climate and soil 
in Middle Florida is to many minds quite as inviting as the orange of 
other sections. Nor must it be overlooked that throughout Middle Flor- 
ida splendid old orange-trees are to be found bearing luscious fruit. 
Periodically, at intervals, usually, of fifteen years, cold waves have 
swept over this section of the State, doing more or less damage to the 
orange-trees. The last occurrence of the kind was in December, 1880, 
and its effects are still to be seen, though on the lower Apalachicola River 
and in Lafayette and Taylor Counties the damage done was very slight. 

The establishment, throughout Middle Florida, of commodious 
churches and schools is a source of great satisfaction to its people, and 
a decided attraction to many from other States. Besides the presence 
of well-organized and well-conducted public and private schools in all the 
towns and country neighborhoods, there is established at Tallahassee 
the West Florida Seminary, with a male and female department and 
a corps of competent instructors. Within the year has been incorpo- 
rated and founded the Florida University, of which one college (the 
Medical) has been put upon a starting basis, and has just been opened. 

The carefully compiled tables, showing the result of a series of ob- 
servations taken in Tallahassee from January i, 1881, to July 1, 1883, 
and published in another portion of this book under the heading of Sta- 
tistical Tables, will, in the absence of any other data, serve as a fair 
record of temperature for all the hill country, extending from the 
Suwanee westward to the Apalachicola. 

From the tables referred to it will be seen that, through a period of 
thirty months, embracing the summer solstice of 1881, 1882, and 1883, 
the highest range of the mercury was 97 ^^ once in 1 881, 95" 07ice in 1882, 
and 94*^ once in 1883 ; and that during the same period the lowest range 
of the thermometer was 32'' four times in 1881, twice in 1882, and but 
once in the first six months of 1883. These several temperatures were 
only attained for an hour or so at a time, the high degrees coming only 
at 2 p. M., and the low register at 7 a. m. and 9 p. m. 

The difference between the highest summer temperature and the 
lowest winter register for 1881 was 65** ; the difference in 1882 was 61'', 
and for 1S83 the difference was 60''. 

The average mean daily temperature for the fifteen fall and winter 
months of the above period, /. e , January, February, and March of 1881, 
1882, and 1883, and October, November, and December of 1881 and 1882, 
is 63.73. 



Florida Sectionally Considered — Middle Florida. 21 

The average mean daily temperature of the fifteen summer months, 
7. e., April, May, and June of 1881, 1882, and 1883, '^'^^ J^'y» August, 
and September of 188 1 and 1882, is 79.10. 

The difference between the average daily temperature of winter and 
summer being only fifteen and ihirteen-hiindredths degrees. 

The forest growth of the red lands of Middle Florida is of a great 
variety of hard-wooded, umbrageous trees that afford an abundant 
shade, and the clayey lands of the region are carpeted with grasses of 
many varieties, so that even at mid-day, under the direct rays of the 
semi-tropical sun, few places are to be found where the heat is not 
endurable. 

Middle Florida has just arrived at a period when very radical 
changes are taking place in the economy of its development. 

In the past its industries have been restricted to the production of 
the great staple, cotton, and some sugar .and tobacco. Little was done 
other than could be accomplished by the crude usages that obtained 
generally throughout the South in the application of slave labor under 
the old regime. 

Now the young men of the country have taken hold of the reins, 
and the plough-handles as well. 

Diversified farming is rapidly becoming the order of the day. More 
corn and grain are being raised ; improved live stock is being intro- 
duced ; lands, instead of being exhausted year after year to produce 
cotton, are being broken deep and rotated with different crops. Ex- 
tensive areas are being put to grass, and year by year the number of 
marketable products is increasing. 

The filling up of Southern Georgia and East and South Florida by 
thousands of people who are turning their attention to fruit culture, has 
created a demand. This has tended to develop in Middle Florida the 
production of corn, grain, bacon, hams, lard, beef and poultry, and 
given a wonderful impetus to dairy industries to supply those sections 
with butter. 

The establishment of railway facilities, and the introduction of re- 
frigerating cars, and improved shipping packages, has practically made 
of Florida the early vegetable garden for the North and West. And 
this at a season of the year when there is no competition. 

Middle Florida, by virtue of the superiority of her soil, and the 
elevated character of her lands, which exempts them from March 
frosts, is eminently fitted for the conduct of this new and exceedingly 
profitable industry upon a most extensive scale. 

Commencing operations only a few years ago, so very satisfactory 
have been the results of this "truck business" with those engaged in 
it, that their example is being rapidly followed by others. New men 
from all parts of the country are dropping in and giving their attention 
to the enterprise. Lands suitably located for the business have sud- 
denly risen in value, and are selling daily to new comers, who improve 
and plant them. 

When made an adjunct to the regular farm operations, and con- 
ducted in conjunction with the keeping of improved live stock, there is 



22 Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 

no question that the growing of early vegetables in the South for North- 
ern markets is a very sure and profitable business As to whether it can 
be successfully conducted by the operator who on a small piece of land 
confines himself to gardening alone, and depends upon the purchase 
of commercial fertilizers, is to be doubted. 

When one considers the equable and delightful climate, the 
naturally fertile and lasting quality of the soil, the very elevated and 
healthful location, picturesque beauty of the country, excellent and 
abundant supply of pure water, the great diversity of profitable pur- 
suits, facilities for rapid transportation to both Eastern and Western 
markets, the admirable character of the roads, the social and cultivated 
character of the people, the supply of effective labor, the presence of 
good schools, and the comparative absence of fleas, sandflies, and 
mosquitoes, it is not hard to understand why Middle Floridians are so 
proud of their " Piedmont homes," nor why the stranger finds so 
much there to attract him. 



EAST FLORIDA. 

This division of the State of Florida embraces the thirteen coun- 
ties of Nassau, Duval, Baker, Columbia, Suwanee, Alachua, Levy, 
Marion, Volusia, St. John's, Putnam, Clay, and Bradford, and covers 
the area east of Suwanee River and north of the twenty-ninth parallel 
of north latitude. 

Notwithstanding that the city of St. Augustine, in St. John's 
County, is the oldest settlement in the United States, East Florida is 
in most particulars a new country. The town civilization that estab- 
lished itself at Fernandina, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Palatka, 
prior to the civil war, did very little toward developing the country 
districts, and except at a few points along the banks of the St. John's, 
there was really very little settlement of the eastern portion of East 
Florida. 

\x\ the counties of Marion, Alachua, Suwanee, and Columbia, 
where the better quality of the soil encouraged agriculture, the devel- 
opment was much more rapid and extended. 

It must be borne in mind by the reader of to-day that, throughout 
the South in ante-bellum days, the development and prosperity of a 
section depended entirely upon its adaptability to the employment of 
slave labor. The African slave was imported and bred for agricul- 
tural purposes ; and under the very wasteful and expensive methods of 
applying his labor, that ever accompanied his use, the negro could 
only be introduced wherever the lands were fertile and adapted to the 
support of a population by agricultural pursuits. 

As long ago as 18.40-45, all lands in the Southern States that could 
be made profitable by negro labor were eagerly taken up, and appro- 
priated to the production of corn, grain, cotton, tobacco, and sugar. 

The light sandy lands of the pine regions in the South were never 



Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 23 

regarded by old slave-owners as worth the clea''ing, and consequently 
they have remained standing in the markets for twenty to thirty- five 
years in Florida, at from seventy cents to $1.25 per acre. 

In the counties of Marion and Alachua, in East Florida, there were 
discovered long ago some sections of country where there was a good 
productive soil, resting on clay, but a few inches removed ; and here 
was found the old Southern planter before the war, with his slave 
forces ; and here was developed a considerable degree of prosperity. 
In a somewhat less degree the same facts apply to Columbia 
County, where, in the vicinity of Lake City, are some agricultural 
lands. 

From the foregoing statements, a new-comer to Florida can 
account for the great numbers of negroes now to be found i.i Marion 
and Alachua, as compared with other counties of East Florida. 
Those were the places, m the old planting days, where the lands were 
good enough to attract the owners of these people. The presence of 
negroes in numbers may be safely counted on in Florida as an evidence 
of good farm land. And their absence from among the population of 
a county is a certain indication that neither corn, cotton, cane, grain, 
nor tobacco has ever been profitably produced there on a scale large 
enough to establish a character. 

It follows from the above that there is only a small part of the 
great territory of East Florida that possesses a soil suited to agricul- 
ture. If the old standpoint of the slave-owner were still to be occupied 
by us, we should feel constrained to treat East Florida as she was 
treated for so many years — leave her to her own solitudes, a compara- 
tively unoccupied waste of thin, sandy land. Her lands are no richer 
now than they were before the war ; not one bushel more of corn can 
be made to-day on her sands than twenty years ago, be the experi- 
menter who he may ; and if the conditions and surroundings of 1S50-60 
remained the same to-day, we should look in vain for any very wide- 
spread prosperity in East Florida. 

But those conditions have very materially changed, and even 
greater changes are in immediate prospect. 

Railroads have been built, steamship lines extended, and East 
Florida has virtually been moved from 600 to 1,200 miles nearer the 
centres of civilization, and the cost in time and money of reaching 
those centres reduced to insignificance. These were matters of very 
little moment to the planters of the olden time. A bale of cotton, 
once made, was so much money ; the hauling it one hundred, or 
even two hundred, miles to market, or a seaport, with oxen and 
slaves, that would be otherwise idle, was not an item of expense to be 
charged against the crop, and when once aboard a ship there was no 
waste or damage. The planter generally " drew on his crop," and 
spent the proceeds before it got to market. 

During the period in which these railway and steamship facilities for 
quick transit have been developing, another revolution has been worked 
in the whole means and method of fertilizing in the South. The opening 
of the Carolina phosphate beds, the manufacture and cheap transporta- 



24 Florida Scctionally Considered — East Florida. 

tion of condensed fertilizers, and adoption gradually in the South of a 
system of high culture, or "intense farming," unknown and utterly 
impracticable in former times, enables a man to convert land, hereto- 
fore considered unfit for the purpose, into productive farmsteads, and 
exact from small areas results that, under the old "scratching" sys- 
tem, would have required ten times the surface. 

Then, too, sections of the country that in former days, by reason 
of their remoteness from market, were restricted to the production of 
those commodities that could bear long keeping — such as syrup, sugar, 
cotton, and tobacco — have now, through the greatly improved oppor- 
tunities of shipment, every facility furnished for the successful hand- 
ling of the most perishable stuffs. 

Hundreds of thousands of acres in East and South Florida, that 
twenty years ago would not have supported the laborers and teams 
attempting to produce corn or cotton on them, have been 
found, under the new condition of things, to be susceptible not 
only of supporting a population, but of making of those who properly 
understand turning the new advantages to account a class of the most 
prosperous, independent, ready-money farmers in the world. 

" Farmer " is scarcely the proper term to apply to the class of pro- 
ducers who are making homes in the greater part of East and South 
Florida. That term conveys the idea ordinarily of the combina- 
tion of interests that embraces the handling of live stock, especially 
improved cattle, swine, and sheep, in conjunction with staple crops ot 
husbandry. It is not orthodox to disassociate the idea of double-ploughs, 
sub-soilers, reapers, threshers, corn-cribs, grain-bins, hay-mows, etc., 
etc., with a farmer ; and of these things East and South Florida know 
nothing. 

The soils there are not adapted to the growth of grasses, or, at 
least, grasses of a nutritious and civilized character, and consequently 
the care of good cattle or live stock of any kind is abandoned. Cattle 
and hogs, or an apology for both, run on the " range " in considerable 
numbers, and are about as thin as they can be and live, and either for 
beef, milk, or pork, such stock is about as poor as it gets to be 
anywhere in the world. But, to get back to the matter of the farmer ; 
there are many people looking toward Florida, especially from the 
Eastern and Middle States, who do not care to " farm ;" they never 
were farmers, but they are tired of the severe climate of the North, and 
desirous of finding comfortable homes in a more genial one. Ordi- 
narily the means of these people are limited, and even if they desired it 
they could not, on the score of expense, purchase 320 to 1,000 acres 
of the grass-producing agricultural lands of Middle Florida. Such 
persons feel the necessity of engaging in some profitable pursuit as a 
means of immediate livelihood. They have not the means Jo buy a 
ready-made orange grove, nor the chameleon-like organization that 
would enable them to live on air until one newly started comes into 
bearing. 

In the purchase of a small parcel of land along the line of some 
of the numerous railroads now operating and buildmg in East Florida, 



Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 25 

along the banks of the grand old St. John's or the margin of any 
of the innumerable clear-water lakes of the interior, traversed by 
steamers, no matter how poor and sandy it may be, such persons find 
what they want. The climate is the first and greatest attraction, and 
healthfulness is pretty well insured when they forget about half 
they learned at home about eating, and learn to adapt their food to 
their new climatic condition. They become gardeners, horticulturists, 
apiarists, etc., and can stay out-doors for twelve long months without 
having a sun-stroke or frost-bite. No matter if the land is thin and sandy, 
the first steamer dumps a ton of concentrated fertilizer of some sort 
at your wharf, and your five or ten acres is put on a par with "better 
lands elsewhere, and at a cost of time and money perhaps less than 
might have to be expended in the North or West in labor alone to get 
the clods pulverized and land in shape for seed. Besides, an East 
Florida gardener finds his market in New York, Boston, and Philadel- 
phia ; he sells in these cities delicacies at a season when such things 
cannot be obtained from any other quarter to people who are willing 
and eager to pay roundly for them. He has only one-quarter of an 
acre in strawberries, perhaps ; but then he gets from this little 
"patch" two hundred and fifty quarts of shipping berries. He sends 
them to New York early in February, and, say, lor the first one hun- 
dred quarts gets I2.50 per quart or I250. The next one hundred 
quarts brnig him |ioo, and the last 50 quarts that go forward some 
time in March, fetch only 40 cents per quart, or $20 more. 
This gives him $370 from a little patch of ground scarcely larger than 
a cemetery lot, and with little more trouble than the picking. Now, as 
long as a man can do this he can afford to pay pretty high prices for 
poor land, and lavish the " s:o' minyoe," as the negroes call it, on his 
garden. So with tomatoes, beans and other truck. Profits are enor- 
mous, if you hit it right, and failures mean stupendous fizzles when you 
chance to miss the mark. 

Another, and indeed much the most prominent, industry in East 
Florida is the growing of oranges. 

Orange-grove making is the pursuit that first infused life into Florida 
after the late war ; and the field first occupied and devoted to this 
business was the region along the St. John's River. 

More recently the opening up of the counties south of the 29th par- 
allel have carried the orange-planting industry much further south, 
and the northern portion of South Florida and the southern part of 
Eatt Florida have come to be called the '• Orange Belt " of the State. 

There are sound reasons for ascribing to this orange belt many ad- 
vantages for orange-culture over more northern portions of East 
Florida, or the extreme southern parts of the State ; but we are very 
much inclined to think that rather too much is being made of any such 
advantages. Or, in other words, there is no part of East Florida in 
which the orange does not thrive. 

There is certainly much apprehension to be felt from the effects of 
severe and unexpected cold waves in the counties of Nassau, Duval, 
Baker, and part of Columbia, which, when they come, do more or less 



26 Florida Scctionally Considered — East Florida. 

injury to young trees, and newly-formed fruit. But the experience of 
forty years past is that such cold waves are of the rarest occurrence. 
Twice only, during that period, have they been of such severity as to 
materially injure a crop, and never of a character to kill or seriously 
injure trees properly cared for. 

There is, probably, very much yet to be learned upon the subject of 
ihe range, direction, and intensity of these cold waves which sometimes 
visit Florida. They are exceedingly erratic in their course, often seem- 
ing to rise and pass over a section, again to make themselves felt ia 
localities much further south. 

Just how far down the peninsula of Florida can positive exemption 
be claimed from injury, by cold to the orange crop, the writer is un- 
able to state ; but certainly the cold wave which occurred in December, 
1880, reached very much below sections that had heretofore boasted 
of being beyond the possibility of such a thing. 

As time progresses other enemies to the orange, and casualties more 
seriously to be apprehended than low temperature, may develop them- 
selves. The scale insect, which first appeared in Florida many years 
ago, is acknowledged to have killed all the trees then in the State. 
Men have learned to guard against the ravages of that particular pest ; 
but who knows when some other more formidable enemy may appear ? 

It can be truthfully claimed, however, that there is no part of East 
Florida where oranges cannot be profitably grown. And, unless on 
the one score of apprehension of a possible catastrophe from one of 
those very unusual cold snaps, an intending settler should decide to 
go south of 28*^ latitude, we should feel disposed to say that his chances 
of success in orange-culture would be just as well assured in Nassau, 
or any other of the northern counties, as in any portion of the State 
north of the latitude last mentioned. 

We have spoken of the lands of East Florida as being generally 
poor, except in some parts of Marion, Alachua, Columbia, and Suwanee 
Counties. This assertion, however, requires some explanation, for fear 
of misleading minds entirely unfamiliar with the character of Florida 
lands. 

All the pine lands of Florida are poor, when compared with the allu- 
vial soils of the Western States, and a man coming from the black 
lands of the Western prairies must feel his soul sicken when he looks 
for the first time upon the sandy soil of the pine woods, and thinks of 
trying to farm on such ground. 

But our Western friend can learn a good deal if he will keep his 
eyes open. 

Intermingled with the predominating sand there are throughout the 
piney lands of Florida quantities of lime, and great variety of shell 
remains that in most cases are accompanied by other plant-food 
elements. 

These qualities enable Florida sands to readily assimilate whatever 
of vegetable, animal, or gaseous character is offered to them. The 
effort to recuperate the poorest Florida land by rotating and turning 
under fertilizing crops is attended with most marvelous success. The 



Florida Sectionally Considered — E^st Florida. 2"/' 

truth of the matter is, that, in these sea-fanned arid semi-tria^ical lati- 
tudes, half of the soil, or at least half its producing energy, is in the 
atmosphere. 

We not only bask in the sun- warmed air, but actually farm it. 
Just how much of the productive power of East Florida's sandy 
soil is attributable to this source of energy, we cannot undertake to de- 
termine, but there is every reason to believe that if the lands of this 
section were as rich in plant food as the alluvial bottoms of the Ohio 
or the Missouri, under the influence of our semi-tropical sun, and rain 
supplying Gulf currents, they would soon become utterly uninhabitable 
by man, be he the sturdiest tree-feller and bush-chopper that ever 
came out of the Pine-tree State. 

Florida would be a jungle that would defy the most daring pioneer. 
On the other hand, we are disposed to believe that if the sandy lands 
that do exist in East Florida, and on which can now be seen flourish- 
ing orange groves and vegetable gardens for which the owners would 
not entertain an offer of $2,000 per acre, were moved to the north- 
ward, and away from the rain belts and sun baths of their present 
latitudes, they would be utterly valueless for any purpose save to 
sprinkle a^floor or supply crude material for a glass factory. 

So that the man who is disposed to turn his nose up when he first 
encounters these sandy lands, and hears them, as he thinks, absurdly 
called " soils," has first to observe a bit, and consider the conditions 
before forming too hasty a judgment. 

About the first decided set-back his skepticism encounters will 
be the bland and matter-of-course air with which an East Florida land 
agent will offer him a ten-acre lot for one thousand dollars. 
" One hundred dollars per acre for that sandbank ?" 
" Yes, sir, and a bargain, I can tell you, at that. Why, look up the 
road there a little way. Five years ago I sold that twenty-acre tract 
to the present owner for ten dollars per acre. He put out 600 orange- 
trees on ten acres of it, at a cost of one dollar each, and he has since 
xtinstd o?ie t/ioiisajid dollars per aa-e. But, sir, he did not take it ; he 
would have been a fool to have taken it. Just calculate, in four years 
more his 600 trees will be in full bearing, and he will have 600 more on 
the other ten acres that will be in bearing, say, in five years. Twelve 
hundred bearing trees will give him, say, the first year, at 300 oranges 
to the tree, 360,000 oranges, worth, at 2 1-2 cents apiece, $9,000, and 
the next year he may safely count on 500 oranges to the tree, worth, 
for his entire crop, $15,000. And the next year — well, you see how it is." 
These revelations are perhaps followed up by a quiet talk, on some 
hotel piazza or steamboat deck, with some settler he meets from his 
own State, who says he came here twelve years ago, and was fortunate 
enough to find a piece of Government land that suited him, which he 
got hold of at a cost of $1.25 per acre. It was rather remote from market, 
and away from the river and railway. In fact, it was a rather dismal out- 
look ; but his means were limited, and he could not afford to do better. 
His wife's health was such that he did not dare risk another winter 
North, so he had to make the best of it. 



28 Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 

Labor was scarce and the land poor, and it took a good deal of 
ready money for fertilizers, etc., but he managed to put out 400 trees 
the first year, and has been adding to them every year smce. He found 
people dropping in around him pretty last, and soon the vacant land 
was all entered. In a year or two he sold off two ten-acre lots of his 
entry for ten dollars per acre. This helped him along and kept the pot 
boiling, and enabled him to go a bit into the vegetable business. Then 
the railroad came along. He has had three crops from his first trees, 
and each year the crop is increasing as later plantings mature. He 
sold his last season's crop to a man who took them on the trees and 
paid $2,500 for them, and he thinks his present crop will bring double 
that sum. 

So the story is told over and over again by men from all quarters of 
the world. The prospecting visitor hears the matter talked by every- 
body. He hears nothing else talked. The words " grove," ' ' bearing 
tree," "sour stumps," "thousand," "ten thousand," "sweet seed- 
lings," "twenty thousand," "high hammock," "lake front," "first- 
class pine land," "thirty thousand," fill the gaps between the revolu- 
tions of the steamer's wheels, and by the time he reaches Palatka he 
has just the worst case of orange fever imaginable. 

And then it is that he falls an easy and willing victim to the 
wily vendor of choice locadons, and is in a desperate hurry to 
secure a tract of the very sand he regarded so contemptuously two 
days before. 

We doubt not some such experience as this has come to many 
thousand people within the past ten years, and in most cases they are 
to be found to-day occupying comfortable homes that enterprise and 
taste have caused to spring up like magic in all the accessible parts 
of East Florida. 

'lYue it is, and a stranger is soon struck with the foct that nowhere 
perhaps can one find so many people ready to "sell out" to new- 
comers as in East Florida. 

Ordinarily this might be attributed to some general cause of dissat- 
isfaction prevailing among these new settlers, not apparent on the sur- 
face ; but, in fict, it is attributable to a very different cause, or rather 
combination of causes. 

Prominent among these is the fact that not only a large 
amount of real sturdy pluck and enterprise is necessary to enable a man 
successfully to contend with a tract of raw woodland and convert it 
into a finished, comfortable home, with a bearing orange grove around 
it ; but considerable time is necessary to do this, and during all that 
iwa^ ?i constant outlay 0/ ready money, and no chance of return for many 
years. 

The immigrant who goes to the great West may expend his entire 
means in getdng himseff established the first year, but the second 
season sees his wheat and corn ready for market, and some of his 
money coming back, or, in other words, he is in about as prosperous a 
condition at the beginning of his third year as he is likely to be at the 
end of his tenth or twentieth. His operations are of an annual char- 



Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida, 29 

acter, and the result of his efforts is reached whenever he gets as much 
land under cultivation as he and his team can handle. 

But the East Florida orange-grower plays for a much larger stake. 
If he can hold his grip for ten years, even on but ten acres in orange- 
trees, he is a rich fnan. Upon an investment contemptibly insignificant, 
and practically within the meansof almost any industrious man, he may 
surely expect an income in ten or twelve years that would represent 
the interest to be derived from several hundred thousand dollars in- 
vested in United States bonds or other good securities. 

These facts are, of course, very tempting and seductive, and cause 
many a man, and woman too, to embark in the enterprise, possessing 
all the energy of purpose necessary for the undertaking, but lacking 
the steady source of ready money to enable them to carry out the pro- 
ject. Indeed, hundreds of sanguine tempers are so dazed with the 
splendor of the end to be attained that they fail to fully weigh and con- 
sider the means necessary for its attainment. 

This is true of all other businesses in a greater or less degree, and we 
find men in every walk of life who have incautiously undertaken more 
than circumstances will always admit of their accomplishing. 

It is just in this particular that crange-growing has an incomparable 
advantage over almost any other pursuit or venture we know of. There 
is no such thing connected with the undertaking as an absolute failure. 
A tree once put in the ground is there, and there it will stay ; so 
much is done. The first year it grows some, and 8 per cent, or 10 
per cent, of the time that must elapse before this investment of, say 
50 cents or ^i will be worth $20 per annum has passed. 

Another year rolls by ; the settler's means are getting smaller, but 
his tree is larger, and another round per cent, of his period of proba- 
tion is removed. The ten acres he purchased two years before, in a 
wild, rough state, has 700 to 1,000 young trees on it in a thrifty con- 
dition, and is two years nearer a bearing period. Now the two years 
of time that have been killed is the profit on this mans investment. He 
is worth much more money than when he began, although some years 
yet removed from a time when the golden harvest shall gladden his 
heart and reward his patience and pluck. But heseesthat his means are 
not going to hold out. He recognizes that he underrated the expense 
of the thing, and that he cannot pull through. Unlike his stalwart 
neighbor, he cannot hire himself out as a laborer, and thus support 
his family while his trees are growing ; he happens to be a delicate 
man, who came to Florida to recover from the drain upon his system 
of business confinement. Why not grow vegetables, and thus support 
himself until the bearing time comes? 

Why, because it takes ready money, and lots of it, to grow vege- 
tables, just as it does orange-trees, and our friend has none No, 
he sees his mistake ; but sees too that he can sell this place of his (for 
purchasers are plenty ; every train or steamer brings them in numbers) 
for a great deal more money than it has cost him ; and with the pro- 
ceeds of this sale he can find another lot of wild land one hundred 
miles further down in the woods, and with his enlarged means and 



<30 Florida Scctionally Considered — East Florida. 

experience, and the advantage of 10,000 two-year-old seedlings he has 
in nursery, he can begin again under more favorable auspices, with no- 
fear of failure. 

He finds on the nearest hotel piazza, or lolling under the oaks in 
any of the parks, numbers of intelligent visitors who are just as much 
enchanted with the idea of an orange grove as he was three years ago, 
with the wide difference that they have the means to buy the desired 
thing in an advanced state of progress. 

In a day or two we see it announced that " Mr. Take-advantage-of- 

the-circumstances has disposed of his handsome young grove near 

to Mr. Ready-to- pay-for-a-gocd-thing-when-he-finds-it, for the sum 
of $15,000, and we understand that Mr. T. contemplates removing to 
Hillsboro County, where he will plant another grove, and engage in 
the extensive culture of pineapples." 

This is indeed the history of many a Northern man's experience in 
Florida. Many a one has become rich in planting groves who never 
owned a bearing tree. This is why so many of limited means under- 
take this long-waiting business of grove-making every day, and why 
almost any man who owns a young grove is ready to sell. Every year 
added to the age of a grove enhances its value materially, especially 
where, as is the case in East Florida, each year swells the number of 
wealthy people coming into the country, anxious to buy ready-made 
or well-advanced groves. 

It has been quite the custom for interested persons to talk or write 
extensively of the easy, certain and inexpensive methods of growing 
rich in cultivating oranges and early vegetables in East Florida. 
Statements are recklessly made that one has only to buy young trees^ 
stick them out, and cultivate the space between them in vegetables for 
shipment North, to be certain of an easy and comfortable support 
from the sale of his truck crops while he waits for his grove to come 
into bearing. This is utterly untrue. In the whole range of man's 
pursuits there is perhaps none attended with greater risks than the 
production of marketable vegetable crops. 

There is a degree of industrious perseverance, nice discriminating 
judgment, wide range of observation, careful attention to details, and 
ready familiarity with nature's mysteries and man's cunning, necessary 
to the successful pursuit of this highest phase of agriculture, that ex- 
ceptionally few men attain. And their efforts prove satisfactory and 
profitable only where the conditions are most favorable. 

In East Florida the most serious drawback to this industry is the 
almost universal poverty of the soil. Other than this, the conditions 
are excellent. But even this is a difficulty in a great measure to be 
overcome by judicious fertilizing with commercial manures. 

Nevertheless there are men in East Florida, and they are~ not scarce, 
who have met with fair success at growing vegetables on poor, sandy 
land. This has been done by heavy fertilizing, the selection of certain 
kinds of vegetables that require the least fertility of soil, and the ob- 
taining of crops ready for market so early as to have no competitor, and 
thus realizing fancy prices. 



Florida Scctionally Co7isidercd — East Florida. 31 

Among the list of vegetable crops that experience has shown can be 
handled profitably in East Florida for shipment North, cucumbers, 
peas, string-beans, and tomatoes are perhaps the most reliable. 

Vast quantities of these commodities are annually produced in East 
Florida, and the extension and improvement of the business is rapidly 
helping to better the condition of the people. Railroad men and others 
directly interested in the development of this industry, and who give 
the closest attention to its history and progress, express the opinion 
that the business is to assume gigantic proportions in the near future, 
and will, both in its extensiveness and the profitableness of its results, 
soon become a formidable rival of orange-culture. 

The absence of good grasses in East Florida is certainly a great 
drawback to this section ; but the proximity of a dairy region like that 
lying in Middle Florida, west of the Suwanee River, greatly relieves this 
inconvenience, enabling the people either to obtain fresh and cheap 
supplies of dairy products, or excellent thoroughbred cattle. 

In the matter of hotels, railways, and steamboats, no part of Florida 
can compare with this Eastern Section in facilities for comfortably 
entertaining the great tide of restless winter visitors who drift into 
these sunny latitudes in search of health. 

Fernandina, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ocala, Palatka and Gains- 
ville, also Sanford and DeLand, are well i)r<ivi(led with commo- 
dious and well kept hotels, while at all points along the St, John's, and 
at the smaller inland towns, less pretentious, but comfortable quarters 
can be found. 

In the matter of railway communication East Florida is admirably sup- 
plied. Beside the trunk line of the Florida Railway and Navigation Com- 
pany's roads (the Transit), extending from the Atlantic at Fernandina to 
the warm waters of the Gulf at Cedar Keys, this same company operates a 
branch thirty miles long from Fernandina to Jacksonville. This, in ad- 
dition to the great commercial advantages resulting to each place, practically 
places the splendid surf-bathing of the Amelia Island beach at the very 
doors of the residents of Jacksonville. The Florida Central and Western 
Railway, which traverses the northern portion of the State from east to 
west, and extends from Jacksonville to the Chattahoochee River, is also 
controlled by the Florida Railway and Navigation Company. This im- 
portant division, after leaving Jacksonville, intersects the Transit Division 
at Baldwin near the western border of Duval County, and thence extends 
across the southern point of Nassau County and through the pleasant vil- 
lage of Sanderson, the county scat of Baker County. It then crosses 
Columbia County, passing through Lake City, which is located in one of 
the best pine land farming districts of the State. The next county on this 
line is Suwanee, in which the principle station is at Live Oak, a place of 
rapidly growing business and much enterprise. Here a junction is made 
with the New Branford Branch of the Savannah, Florida and Western 
Railway, which extends south from Dupont in Georgia on the main line 
to Lake City, New Branford on the Suwanee River, and to Gaines- 
ville, where it connects with the Florida Southern R. R. From Live 
Oak the F. C. & W. road passes on to the Suwanee River, which it crosses 



32 Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 

at the busy mill town of EUaville, and" here the frontier of East Florida is 
reached. 

A very important branch of the Savannah, Florida and Western Rail- 
way, known as the Way-Cross Division, passes through East Florida from 
Way-Cross, on the main line in Southern Georgia, to Jacksonville. Form- 
ing a short and direct hne between Jacksonville and Savannah, this road 
supports an immense tratilic, and forms the favorite avenue of approach 
to Florida from the North. 

The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway Company 
operate a line of road between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, 35 miles. 
At the latter place they connect with steamers for the Halifax and Indian 
River countrv. 

South from Jacksonville the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West R. R. 
runs up the western bank of the St. John's River to Palatka, a short dis- 
tance above which city it crosses to the east bank, and, passing through 
Crescent City and De Land, is continued to Enterprise and Sandford ; 
though to reach the latter city it has again to cross the river at the foot of 
Lake Monroe. It makes connection at West Tocoi with a fine ferry boat 
for Tocoi and the broad guage St. John's River Railway for St. Augustine ; 
at Green Cove Springs with the Green Cove Springs and Melrose R. R. , 
which extends from the river across Clay County to Melrose in Putnam 
County, though it is only in operation ten miles to Sharon ; and at 
Palatka with the Florida Southern R. R. for Ocala, Gainesville and 
Leesburg, Brooksville, Lakeland, and Tampa. 

From Waldo in Alachua County the Peninsular Division of the Flor- 
ida Railway and Navigation Company's system leaves the Transit Divi- 
sion and runs due soutli through Ocala, Wildwood and Panasofkee to 
Plant City in Hillsboro County, where a junction is effected with the 
South Florida Railroad. 

From Wildwood, in Sumter County, the Leesburg Division of the 
same great system extends eastward to Leesburg and Tavares in the lake 
region, where it connects with a road for Apopka and Orlando. 

A very important, but very short line of railway extends from the St. 
John's River at De Land Landing to the prosperous and flourishing city of 
De Land, five miles away. This little road, built to accommodate this 
model city, which is doubling its population with each successive year, 
will be eventually extended eastward to New Smyrna on the coast. 

Orange City, just south of De Land, is connected with the St. John's 
with a tram road about five miles in length. 

By examining this list of railroads it will be seen that there is not a 
single county in East Florida that is not traversed by one or more of the 
iron highways. 

So much has been written on the subjects of the 

CLIMATE AND HEALTHFULNESS OF EAST FLORIDA, 

that the topic is quite threadbare ; and yet very little has been said on the 
subject that is wholly true. 

Why enthusiastic people should feel it incumbent on them to ex- 
aggerate the admirable qualities of Florida's climate, and misrepresent 



Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 33 

by hiding its objectionable features, we are at loss to understand. For 
certainly good features are as many and the bad features as few as in 
any section of the civilized world. If everything else in Florida were 
as satisfactory as its climate, it would, indeed, be the most desirable 
part of the earth. 

Throughout Florida there are some days every M-inter, and during 
some winters many days, when the weather is very disagreeable and 
trying to invalids who have come South for the benefits of the climate 
alone. Such people take great offence at these spells of weather, and 
after drinking in the balmy air and sunshine for weeks at a time, out of 
doors under the trees, a change for only a day or two that confines 
them to the house induces them often to declare the Florida climate a 
delusion and a snare. Such people forget that instead of one day, or 
even a week of bleakness, they would, if at home, have for months to 
endure ten times as disagreeable a condition of things. 

The current of Arctic water that comes south off the Atlantic coast 
of the Northern States, and intervenes between the shores of the Con- 
tinent and the western edge of the Gulf Stream, extends itself well 
down the Atlantic coast of Florida, and is a broad barrier to the Gulf 
Stream as far down as Cape Canaveral. The waters of this Arctic 
belt are many degrees lower in temperature than the north-flowing 
waters of the Mexican Stream. The result is that whenever the wind 
is from the northeast or east during the winter months, the air is 
chill and disagreeable in those portions of Florida subjected to its in- 
fluence. 

Not only this, but when two currents of such marked differences of 
temperature come in contact, the vapor arising from the one is con- 
densed by the cold air overhanging the other, and the result is wet, 
foggy weather. The northeast or east wind drives in-shore great 
mantles of the ocean fogs and the dampness of these winds makes them 
the more hateful. 

These winds do occur. They are the exceptions in our winter 
weather; but still, when they blow, East Florida, owing to her geograph- 
ical position, cannot escape them. They are the same currents that 
occasionally drive in-shore up the entire Atlantic coast of the United 
States, and the only difference in them — between Florida and on Long 
Island — IS that the southern sun takes about 75 per cent, of the chill 
out of them before they reach the former. 

No other part of the State of Florida is as much exposed to these 
damp, chill northeasters as the territory north of Cape Canaveral, and 
extending westward or inland for perhaps seventy-five miles. 

This is the one real cause of complaint, if such it be, that can be 
urged against the winter climate of East Florida. In summer the period 
of high temperatures lasts pretty evenly from the middle of May to 
the middle of September ; often a little later. 

About the healthfulness of East Florida, or indeed any part of 
Florida, it is difificult to be authoritative. 

Leaving out of the problem the matter of occasional fevers of a 
light form during the summer months (and of these more presently), 



34 Florida Sectionally Consukred — East Florida. 

there is really very little to be said o'li the score of diseases to be appre- 
hended in any part of Florida, and we are satisfied, from twenty years' 
knowledge of East Florida, during two years of which period we 
generally slept on the ground, with one blanket, and no roof other than 
the forest trees, that that section of the State is quite as healthful as any 
part of Florida. 

Men sicken and die there, as they do everywhere else, but none of 
the formidable diseases that exist further north, and are so fatal to child- 
life especially, such as scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, and conges- 
tion, are ever of a severe type in the Florida climate, and such things 
are not dreaded as they are in colder latitudes. 

It is of the rarest occurrence that any throat or lung troubles origi- 
nate in Florida, and quite as rarely does its climate fail to be of benefit 
to visitors or settlers who come here affected wi;h disorders of that 
nature. 

One of the most common inquiries made concerning Florida's cli- 
mate, by men from sections further north, is whether a man from such 
places can " work out " in a Florida sun with impunity. 

We think that, with the exception of the perfect security in Florida 
against sun-stroke, a case of which has never been known in the State, 
there can be little difference between working out in a Florida sun or 
an Ohio sun. But, certain it is, it cannot be done on the same diet. 

When northern men learn to imitate the Creoles and Spanish 
Americans of the tropical and semi-tropical latitudes in matters of diet 
and clothing, they will have little cause to complain of the hot sun. 

Our observation is that most northern people make themselves sick 
in summer when they attempt to work in an August and September 
sun ; but we could never see the slightest occasion or profit in working 
out during those months. The spring crops are harvested, and it is 
yet too early to begin the planting of the fall crops. People of all 
southern latitudes learned ages ago to take matters easily. Along 
the shores of the Mediterranean the same customs obtain now with 
regard to the proper division and employment of time that existed 
in the time of the Caesars. The peoples among whom these southern 
customs had their origin have passed from the face of the earth. 
A great tide of northern immigrants swept over their land, by whom 
such customs were set at defiance and ridiculed. But while the con- 
querors and the conquered, together with their very languages, have 
passed away, their customs yet remain, and have followed correspond- 
ing latitudes into the Western World. 

The energetic northern man, migrating to Florida, is apt to set 
at defiance the tropical sun, and Vv'age a relentless war upon night air. 
He adheres 1 5 his accustomed northern diet, builds a little sweat-box of 
a cottage on a northern plan, and goes slashing away at his "work as 
though there were seven months of winter ahead of him to make pro- 
vision again.'Et. But, alas ! before that season arrives he discovers that 
he has a liver in him which seems larger and harder than Plymouth 
Rock. 

He begins to talk of the debilitating effects of the southern climate. 



Florida Sectionally Considered — East Florida. 35 

and discusses learnedly and bitterly on miasmatic and malarial poi- 
sons. 

This man wrestles with the fever for a year or two ; his Yankee 
pluck enables him in most cases to hold his own, fever or no fever. 
Gradually it dawns upon him that every one else in his neighborhood 
is not an absolute know-nothing. Little by little, his conceit is ex- 
changed for southern habits, and in course of time we find our industri- 
ous friend taking things coolly on a shady piazza, while " Remus " or 
" Julius Csesar " plies the hoe and guides the plough in the field hard 
by. For a real southern Southerner look to a converted Yankee. 

This process of becoming acclimated after one gets south is expen- 
sive and severe. 

Before the northerner leaves home for a southern latitude, let him 
for a moment consider the ways of people who for hundreds of years 
have adapted themselves to southern suns. No man of sense can con- 
clude that the Egyptians, the Arabs, the Greeks, the Romans, the 
Moors, the modern Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Spanish Americans, 
and the Anglo-Saxon and French Creole people of the Southern States 
have all been lazy idiots, that could only be enlightened by northern 
philosophy. 

Let him ask himself why the Mexican, Brazilian, or Cuban spends 
large sums of money building an adobe house, with heavy walls and 
roof of masonry, distressingly plain in its architecture ; when, for one- 
tenth the sum, he could erect a wooden cottage of modern style ? Or 
why the Louisiana Creole affects cooling fruit syrups, lime-juice, 
white linen, panama hat, and low-quartered pumps, instead of beer, tea, 
quinine, woolen-wear, brimless Derby, and boots ? 

Let northern folk, when they quit their native latitudes and seek 
to make homes in the South, come prepared to observe and learji, and 
not determined to teach, in those things relating to climate and modes 
of life at least, and we will ensure them against much needless incon- 
venience and suffering that fall to the lot of many a poor fellow who 
sets out to display his northern energy under a Florida sun. 

A very large proportion of the population of East Florida are 
settlers from New England, and the thrift and enterprise of those 
people has made itself apparent in a most marked degree. 

The Middle and Western States also have contributed largely 
toward building up the waste places, and quite a number from foreign 
shores have cast their lot there. 

Every one who has settled there has not been entirely successful, 
any more than in other parts of the world, and dissatisfied parties are 
often seen moving away, some to the southern or western parts of the 
State, and others back to the homes from which they originally came. 

But the population is steadily increasing. 

A larger proportion of the settlers in Florida are people of culture 
and moderate means than is ordinarily the case with those moving to 
new States. 

Much brighter days are in store for East Florida than she has yet 
seen. 



2,6 Florida Sectionally Considered — South Florida. 

The extension of railroads, south and west, will divert part of the 
tide of settlers who have heretofore selected East Florida, mainly on 
account of her superior facilities for transportation ; but so rapid is 
the increase of immigration to the State that the number of those 
who are settling in East Florida is much greater than that of those 
who are leaving. 



SOUTH FLORIDA. 

South Florida, comprising the Counties of Brevard, Dade, Monroe, 
Manatee, Polk, Hillsboro', Hernando, Sumter, and Orange, a territory 
of 27,500 square miles in extent, is a region which has of late years 
attracted more widespread and interested attention than any other sec- 
tion of the American Union. Its peculiar characteristics of climate and 
productions possess a romantic interest for the majority of people of 
colder latitudes, difficult to define, yet substantial enough to form an 
important, if unacknowledged, element in the progress which has marked 
its recent history. Much of its territory, known as the Everglades, is 
an unsurveyed and unexplored region, of which the possibilities, in an 
agricultural or commercial point of view, are as utterly unknown as 
those of the interior of Africa ; while the remaining portion has become, 
within a few years past, the seat of an active and prosperous civiliza- 
tion. 

Nearly every known portion of this vast region offers substantial 
attractions to the tourist, the sportsman, and the seeker after health or 
pleasure, as well as to the immigrant desiring to engage in commercial 
pursuits, in the production of fruits and vegetables, or in the more 
substantial, but equally profitable, staples — corn, cotton, tobacco, rice, 
and sugar. 

On the Atlantic side of this peninsular region, extending a distance 
of nearly one hundred miles, is the Indian River, a beautiful sheet of 
salt water, varying in width from one to seven miles, and separated from 
the waters of the Atlantic by a continuous narrow strip of land which 
extends without a break from a point near the 29th parallel of latitude 
southward to Indian River Inlet, a distance of about 120 miles. Below 
the Inlet, and extending in like manner some forty miles further south, 
is a continuation of this vast salt-water lagoon, known as the St. Lucie 
Sound, which Lerminates at Jupiter Inlet. The country lying along the 
Indian River, chiefly in Brevard County, is famous for the production 
of the celebrated " Indian River oranges," which are claimed to be of 
finer quality than those raised in any other section of the State ; and 
for pineapples, which are being raised in large numbers. This region 
also possesses peculiar attractions for the sportsman, and its delightful 
winter climate renders it especially fitted for the enjoyment of camp life. 
The belt of country immediately adjacent to the river is covered with 
a heavy growth of pine forest, standing on a gently undulating grass- 
clad upland, clear of undergrowth, and presenting the appearance of a 
vast park. Occasional openings and clumps of live-oaks and palmetto- 



Florida Sect tonally Considered — South Florida. 37 

trees add variety to the landscape ; and the rapidly inci easing- number 
of clearings and settlements, orange groves, pineapple fields, and vege- 
table farms, add to, rather than detract from, the many natural charms 
of the scenery. 

Westward from this strip of timbered lands and rich, well-drained 
soil, lie vast prairies, affording pasturage for innumerable cattle. In- 
jurious frosts seldom visit this region, and the most tender semi- 
tropical fruits are cultivated with almost universal success. Cocoanut- 
trees can be grown along the more southern coast, and the sugar-cane 
attains here its greatest perfection, ripenmg fully, and requiring to be 
replanted only every seventh or eighth year. 

The country lying immediately south of the Indian River region, 
comprising Dade County, is, with the exception of a narrow strip along- 
the coast, an unknown and uninhabited territory, of vast extent, known 
as the Everglades, and supposed to be almost entirely submerged for 
the greater portion of each year. This region extends into and occu- 
pies a large portion of Monroe County, which adjoins Dade on the 
west, and has a coast line on the Gulf of Mexico of about one hundred 
and seventy-five miles, not including the Florida Keys. Any attempt 
to describe this terra incognita would be vain, as little is known of it, 
save that it consists of a vast swamp, or saw-grass marsh, interspersed 
with numerous small islands or hummocks, some of which were visited 
by the soldiers of the United States Army during the Seminole Wars. 

No white man has ever thoroughly explored it. A few of the '* cow- 
men " in South Florida have some acquaintance with portions of its 
borders and a few of the beaten paths that lead to Indian settlements. 
Five years ago a single white man dropped a tiny canoe into the 
waters of the Suwanee River where it is crossed by the Florida Central 
and Western Railway, and made his way down the Gulf coast of the 
peninsula — entered the Caloosahatchie River — ascended it — and worked 
his way into the great dismal, watery waste of Okeechobee. On this 
shoreless inland sea of solitude he wandered for eight days and nights, 
searching for the mouth of the Kissimmee River. This lonely adven- 
turer was the editor of this periodical — Mr. C. K. Munroe, of New 
York, and there is every reason to believe that he was the first white 
man, or perhaps the first man of any color, who ever took a boat into 
Okeechobee from the Gulf 

This exploit was only little over five years ago. Since then, Major 
Williams, of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, with an exploring party 
entered the great lake from the Kissimmee, and reached the Gulf by 
way of the Caloosahatchie. A glance at the map will show that there is 
yet a vast domain, quite one hundred miles long, north and south, with 
an average width of 60 or 80 miles, over which no surveyor's chain has 
ever been stretched, and of which all knowledge is as conjectural as of 
the interior of the Dark Continent beyond the path of Stanley. 

Such parts of this great savannah as have been surveyed have passed, 
under the provisions of the Swamp and Overflowed Land Act of Con- 
gress, from the General Government to the State of Florida ; and it is 
largely of these lands that the purchase of 4,000,000 acres from the 



3o Florida Scctionally Considered — South Florida. 

State, by Hamilton Disston, of Philadelphia, consists. Such a purchase 
would have been madness in any one possessed of less nerve, money, 
and executive ability, than Mr. Disston ; for to make them available, 
or in any way marketable, it became, first, necessary to drain them, the 
accomplishment of which piece of engineering involved the lowering of 
Okeechobee's broad surface many feet. The bailing out of a lake 50 
miles long and 30 in width, fed by rivers and creeks, is somewhat of 
an undertaking, even in these days of gigantic engineering schemes ; 
but the ends to be accomplished — the reclamation of millions of what 
are suspected to be the richest lands on the continent, and they consti^- 
tuting wholly the only bit of semi-tropical territory over which our 
nation's flag waves — was an inducement worth an earnest endeavor. 

With the organization of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Canal and 
Okeechobee Land and Drainage Company, Mr. Disston began the 
work ; and in less than three years the long submerged shores of the 
mysterious inland sea have risen above the waters, a wide and deep 
water-way has been made through the broad fields of mud and saw- 
grass that interposed between the western edge of the lake and the 
navigable channel of the Caloosahatchie. 

Miles and miles of country have been drained ; the most sanguine 
expectations of the resolute and adventurous projectors have been even 
more than realized, both as to the practicability and cost of the enter- 
prise and the very valuable character of the land thus made available. 

The Company claim that a soil of most exceptional fertility and of 
great depth is here to be found, where the climate is better suited to 
the culture of sugar-cane than anywhere else on the globe ; and that 
the production of sugar is to be the great pursuit in this sunny land so 
soon as these lands are put upon the market. 

The Florida Keys, comprising a long chain of low coral islands, 
extending from the southern extremity of Dade County, in a south- 
westerly curving direction, into the waters of the Gulf, and terminating 
with the Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west of the island of Key West, lie 
in the only really tropical region of the United States. Of these keys 
many are mere islets, covered with a dense growth of mangrove bushes ; 
others support a growth of palms and other tropical trees, and a num- 
ber of them offer large areas of tillable soil. Some years ago they 
were unlighted and uninhabited, and were the dread of shipmasters 
and the paradise of wreckers. Now they are dotted with light-houses, 
whose flashing beacons have saved many a good ship from destruction. 
The largest of these islands is Key Largo, on which the raising of pine- 
apples is proving a remunerative industry. 

The pineapple, cocoanut, banana, plaintain, date, orange, lime, lemon, 
citron, shaddock, grape fruit, are practicable crops, giving tremen- 
dous profits to the producers in the southern parts of the peninsula. 
More than five hundred thousand cocoanut-trees have been planted 
around Key West and along the keys, reefs and mainland of the extreme 
Southern Atlantic and Gulf shores of the State,and more than that num- 
ber of pineapples. Tifink of 10,000 pineapples to an acre ! — no fertiliz- 
ing necessary — no ploughing : only afewhoeings needed. If they are 



Florida Scctionally Considered — Sotith Florida. 39 

sold at one cent apiece, the result is one hundred dollars per acre. But 
pineapples must not be put at one cent, nor yet at 5 cents ; but, to be 
surely within bounds, let us ask 7 cents apiece for them, and receive 
seven hundred dollars per acre on a crop that one man can handle many 
acres of. 

An acre will support fifty cocoanut-trees, that require no fertilizing, 
no fencing, and no pruning. At from nine to twelve years of age these 
trees mature from 80 to 150 nuts to the tree ; suppose they only bear 40 
to the tree on an acre of 50 trees, and are sold at one cent apiece. But 
cocoanuts do not sell for one cent apiece anywhere, and when they 
bring five cents apiece, and the yield is 20,000 to ten acres, the 
comfortable annual income of $1,000 can be literally picked up in the 
sand. 

No fear of ever glutting a market either ; for whatever may betide 
other fruits, there are boys enough in the country to use up all the sur- 
plus of a cocoanut crop. 

Who are the people to grow these things, and where will 
they come from ? It is hard to guess ; but there is in this country 
a class of people who ought to find in South Florida the one place 
fitted for them. It comprises the thousands of invalids and deli- 
cate people who cannot cope with the busy world and its host of great 
healthy men. How many people in the United States who must die 
soon in the homes they now occupy, and who are prevented from leav- 
ing them because they cannot labor in the agricultural South, might 
find a new lease of life and fortune in South Florida ? 

There are many other tropical and semi-tropical fruits successfully 
grown in South Florida, such as the guava, mango, sapadillo, "alligator 
pear," pawpaw, sugar-apple, and many others ; but we know too little 
of them to discuss them. 

Vegetable growing will, for the few who shall obtain exceptionally 
fertile locations in South Florida, convenient to quick transportation, 
be very profitable for a few varieties of garden stuff — especially 
tomatoes, which, when offered early, border rather on the luxurious than 
substantial side of the food supply. But until railroads are completed, 
the southern part of the peninsula can do very little in this line. 

We think truck-farming and tropical fruit-growing rather incom- 
patible industries, except in very exceptional cases, for live stock and 
plenty of them are essentials to a good truck-farm. And they must 
be such stock as can be profitably kept enclosed. For this pur- 
pose a much better grassed country is necessary than exists in such 
places as will produce tropical fruit. What may be developed in this 
industry, of raising early vegetables for shipment North, in South 
Florida, when that section becomes better supplied with shipping 
facilities and the people become by experience more familiar with 
methods and economies in cultivation and fertilizing, we are unable 
to say ; but at present only occasional localities have been able to 
attempt it. Results of such experimenting as has been had in 
those places affording ready transportation have been fairly satis- 
factory — mainly owing to the fact that their earliness has given them 



40 Florida Sectionally Considered — South Florida. 

an advantage in the markets. A poor man who comes to South Flor- 
ida expecting to put the bulk of his capital into an orange grove, and 
rely upon supporting himself growing vegetables until his trees mature, 
is likely to be sooner or later disappointed, and had better post himself 
thoroughly before he undertakes it. 

In the northern part of Monroe County is the Big Cypress Swamp, 
which lies between the Everglades and the Culf coast, and extends north- 
ward nearly to the Caloosahatchie River. This stream, which is the 
outlet to Lake Okeechobee, flows into Charlotte Harbor, one of the 
finest land-locked harbors on the entire Gulf coast. The river is navi- 
gable for its entire length of 75 miles, having a depth of about six feet, 
at low tide, for a distance of 30 miles up from the Gulf. It is two 
miles wide at its mouth, on the south bank of which is situated Punta 
Rassa, noted as a port for the shipment of immense numbers of cattle 
to Cuba, and as the terminus of the cables of the International Ocean 
Telegraph Company, extending to Key West and Havana. About 
twenty miles up the river is Fort Meyers, a town of considerable im- 
portance. 

Charlotte Harbor extends a considerable distance northward into 
Manatee County, and the Myakka River, Peace Creek, and Trout- 
eating Creek flow into it, through the central part of the county, from 
the north and north-cast. Fisheating Creek flows through the eastern 
portion of the county into Lake Okeechobee, which, with the Kissim- 
mee River, form its eastern boundaries. 

Manatee is a very large county and, like Monroe and Dade, com- 
prises a considerable area of marsh and swamp lands ; but it also con- 
tains a number of large prairies, which support many cattle. Along 
the Gulf coast and the Manatee River, which empties into Tampa 
Bay, near the northwest corner of the county, are fine lands, which 
produce, besides great quantities of vegetables, some of the finest- 
flavored oranges grown in the State, rivaling in popularity those of 
the Indian River country. In the region near the mouth of Manatee 
River are several of the largest and most profitable orange groves in 
Florida, and the only coffee ever raised in the United States for 
actual use was produced in the same locality. 

The country along the Gulf coast from Key West to Punta Rassa, 
on the Caloosahatchie, is low and insular in character, being intersected 
by innumerable streams, and fringed with countless numbers of coral 
islands covered with a dense growth of mangrove. North of Charlotte 
Harbor the same protecting chain of islands extends ; but they are 
larger, and offer facilities for cultivation, while the mainland itself is 
higher, and supports a heavy growth of pine forest. Just north of 
Tampa Bay, which is the next large indentation above Charlotte 
Harbor, the coast line is marked by bluffs, along which flourishing 
settlements are springing into existence — Clearwater Harbor, Dunedin, 
Yellow Bluff, Tarpon Springs on the Anclote River, and Bayport being 
already well established. 

The coast of Hillsboro' and Hernando Counties is indented at 
short intervals with bays, which form the mouths of rivers of crystal 



Florida Scctionally Considered — Soiilh Florida. 41 

clearness. These rivers take their rise a few miles back in the country in 
magnificent springs, whose waters are clear as crystal and whose source of 
supply is never failing. , 

Tampa Bay lies wholly in Hillsboro' County, and is a beautiful sheet of 
water about twenty-five miles in length and from eight to twelve miles wide. 
At its northern extremity it is divided into two large arms, known as Old 
Tampa Bay and Hillsboro' Bay, an 1 at the head of the latter is Tampa, 
oneofthi oldest settlements on the Gulf Coast. The peninsula which 
separates Old Tampa and Tampx Bay from the Gulf is a heavily timbered 
section of country, in which orange groves are being rapidly set out. 
Here, too, are raised many of the very earliest vegetables that find their 
way to Northern markets. 

Tampa is the largest and most important city on the Gulf Coast of 
Florida, and is the base of supply for Hillsboro', Manatee and portions of 
Polk and Hernando Coundes. It is connected by steamers with New 
Orleans, Cedar Keys, Key West and Havana, and by the South Florida 
Railroad with Sanford and the St. John's River. Since the opening of this 
railroad early in 1884, Tampa has increased in area and prosperity with 
immense strides. In every direction the buildings of sleepy old Tampa 
are being replaced by the new hotels, dwelling houses and blocks of stores 
of wide awake new Tampa. The Florida Southern Railway, which con- 
nects with the South Florida at Lakeland, gives Tampa a direct all-rail 
route to the North ; and the new line of steamers to Havana makes it 
one of the most important ports on the gulf. 

Adjoining Hillsboro' on the east lies Polk, one of the most progressive 
of the upper counties of South Florida. It contains much good farming 
land, immense tracts of valuable timber, and is being rapidly settled by a 
most excellent class of immigrants from the North and West. One of its 
chief attractions is the vast number of clear, sandy-bottomed lakes with 
which the whole county is dotted. These not only offer their banks for 
beautiful budding sites and an abundant water supply for domestic uses, 
but afford fine water protection against the injurious frosts, which, at long 
intervals and for very short periods, find their way even thus fur south. 
Polk County is traversed from east to west by the narrow guage South 
Florida R. R., that extends from Sandford to Tampa, and has a branch 
running south to Bartow, the county seat. In the eastern part of the 
county lie large tracts of the rich bottom lands that are being drained and 
thrown into the market at Government prices by the Disston Company. 
So great hns been the rush into Polk County during the past year that all 
the valuable United States lands have been pre-empted, though lands here 
are still so cheap as to offer tempting inducements to settlers. 

Hernando County lies north of Hillsboro", along the Gulf coast, and 
is one of the richest agricultural sections of South Florida. It possesses 
many of the characteristics of Middle Florida, having high hills and a clay 
sub-soil. Its products are consequently more varied than those of the 
country lying south of it, large quantities of corn, oats and other grains 
being grown in some portions of the county. Brooksville, the county seat, 
is its largest town. Along its northern boundary flows the Withlacoochee 
River of the South, emptying into the Gulf, and navigable for small steam- 
ers for a hundred miles. A number of beautiful lakes are situated in the 



42 Florida Scctionally Considered— Soiiili Florida. 

north-eastern portion of the county, Charla-Apopka being the largest. On 
the Homosassa River, one of the spring-fed crystal streams flowing with 
the Gulf in the northern part of the county, is located what was, before the 
war, one of the finest sugar plantations in the South, that of Senator David 
Yulee. At the head of Crystal River, ten miles north of Homosassa, is a 
growing settlement, containing half a dozen stores, a saw mill and a school 
house. 

East of Hernando County, between it and Orange, lies Sumter County, 
centrally located and possessed of advantages of soil, climate, water priv- 
ileges and transportation facilities unexcelled in the State. On account of 
the facilities that are now offered for its development, this couoty will prob- 
ably attract a larger tide of travel and immigration than any other during 
the present year. 

The navigable waters of the Ocklawaha, including the numerous lakes 
of which it is the outlet, penetrate far into the county from the north. 
The Withlacoochee, which forms its western boundary, is navigable lor 
more than half its length. The Florida Southern R. R. and the Peninsu- 
lar Division of the Florida Railway and Navigation Co.s system traverse 
the entire length of the county. The Leesburg Division of the latter 
system extends east through the northern part of the county, from Wild- 
wood to Leesburg and to Tavares in Orange County. By the St. John's 
and Lake Eustis K. R., Sumter County is placed in direct communication 
with the St. John's River at Astor ; and Leesburg, its largest town, is 
but seven hours' travel from Jacksonville by either of two systems of 
railway. On the south it is in communication with Tampa by rail, via 
Lakeland and the South Florida R. R. 

Beside its general excellence, Sumter County possesses several espec- 
ially attractive features. Directly in the middle of the county, surround- 
ing' the village of Centre Hill, on the Florida Southern R. R., is a section 
of rolling hill country covered with a rich black soil that would delight 
the heart of even a Western farmer. Here is ibund in abundance both 
lime and sand stone. 

Near Lake Apopka, on the eastern boundary of the county, there are 
hills that attain a height of five hundred leet. Such an elevation is so 
rare in Florida that these breezy summits are eagerly bought for building 
sites, and they will soon all be occupied by a community of hill lovers. 

Five miles north from Leesburg, at an elevation of 120 feet above it, 
begins a chain of the most delicious little spring-fed lakes that extends 
north into Marion County. The Florida Southern R. R., on its way from 
Leesburg to Ocala, threads its way among these, and along its line are 
springing up a series of pleasant and flourishing villages. Among them 
are Montclair, Fruitland Park, Lady Lake and Conant, all of them new, 
but all in good hands, and offering excellent opportunities for investment. 
At Fruitland Park, " Windermere," the property of Major 0.^^ P. Rooks, 
who only reclaimed it from the unbroken wilderness five years ago, is one 
of the finest places in the county. 

The crowning glory of Sumter County is its lakes. Beside Lake Pan- 
asofkee in the west and Lake Apopka, which lies partly within its borders 
on the east, it contains within its limits the greater part of Lakes Harris, 



Florida Sectionally Considered — South Florida. 43 

Griffin, Eustis and Dora, the country round about which constitutes the 
highly vaunted " Lake Region" of Florida. It is a glorious country, and 
is possessed of some of the most magnificent orange groves in the State; 
but it is also attracting much attention as a truck country, and every month 
witnesses the opening of new truck farms in this favored locality. These 
four lakes and Lake Apopka are all connected by a series of canals with 
the Ocklawaha River, and each of them supports several little steamers that 
make frequent trips between the many pretty villages that dot their shores. 

The lakes form a portion of ihe boundary between Sumter and Orange 
Counties, and Eustis and Tavares, two of the most enterprising and thriv- 
ing towns in Orange County, are located on their shores. 

Orange County, which lies between Sumter and Volusia, with a 
portion extending southward between Polk and Brevard, and another 
northward between Marion and Volusia, is about eighty miles in length, 
north and south, and in its widest part about fifty miles in breadth. No 
region on the. face of the earth has been so thoroughly, skillfully and 
persistently advertised as Orange County; and for some years its was 
a general impression among seekers after information concerning Florida 
that not an orange worth having was produced outside its limits, and 
that no other quarter of the State was utterly and entirely free from 
the effects of frost. Much of this misconception, due quite as largely 
to the enthusiasm of new comers as to the representations of interested 
advertisers, has disappeared ; but the genuinely superior advantages of 
Orange County remain, and are thoroughly appreciated by its residents. 
The natural transportation facilities afforded by the St. John's River, 
before the construction of railroads, did much to bring Orange County 
into prominence ; and the early inauguration of the industry of orange- 
culture, by enterprising immigrants and far-seeing winter residents of 
ample means, placed it in the van of progress, so far as South Florida 
was concerned. These advantages, added to the excellence of the classes 
of immigrants constantly settling in and improving the country, have com- 
bined to maintain the progress which has marked its recent history. To 
the advantages of transportation afforded by the St. John's River, which 
skirts the entire eastern boundary of the county, are now added facilities 
for rapid transit by rail by the St. John's and Lake Eustis Railroad, which 
extends from Astor on the St. John's River, one hundred and forty'miles, 
from Jacksonville to Leesburg on Lake Harris, a distance of about forty 
miles into the heart of the "lake region;" the South Florida Railroad, 
from Sanford to Kissimmee City in the lower part of the county and 
thence to Tampa and Bartow, and the Leesburg Division of the Florida 
Railway and Navigation Company's system, which has penetrated the 
county at Tavares, where it connects with the Tavares, Orlando and At- 
lantic Railroad, which is built to Orlando, and passes through the pro- 
gressive city of Apopka. 

Orange County contains several cities, among which Sanford and 
Orlando are already well established centres of trade ; the former being 
the upper terminus of steamboat lines from Jacksonville and the start- 
ing-point of steamboats for the Upper St. John's and the Indian River 
country, and the latter the county seat. Between the two, along the 



44 Florida Sectionally Considered — South Florida. 

line of the South Florida Railroad', which here skirts a series of ex- 
quisite lakes, is springing up a series of charming winter resorts, filled 
with the cottage homes of wealthy Northerners, who here spend the 
months from November to May, in the midst of orange groves, flowers, 
and the other surroundings of the semi-tropics. Winter Park, Mail- 
land, Longwood, and half a dozen more, belong to this class of cottage 
cities. Kissimmee City, on the same line of railroad and forty miles 
from Sanford, is but three years old, but is growing rapidly, and is at the 
head of Kissimmee River navigation and the point of departure for 
Lake Okeechobee steamers and for Punta Rassa on the Gulf 

Kissimmee City is particularly interesting as being the headquarters of 
two of what are known in Florida as the Disston Companies, the Kissimmee 
Land Company, which is merely a sub-division of the Florida Land and 
Improvement Company, and the Okeechobee Land Company, which was 
formerly the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land Company. 
These companies are the outgrowth of the purchase in t88i, by Mr. 
Hamilton Disston, of Philadelphia, of 4,000,000 acres of Florida lands at 
twenty-five cents per acre. The effecting of this great sale, though keenly 
criticised at the time, has proved of incalculable benefit to the State, and 
reflects lustre upon the administration under which it was consummated. 
Up to that date no railroads could be built because no titles could be 
obtained to State lands. The State was burdened with an indebtedness of 
one million dollars for which the public lands were pledged. A decree 
has been written, though it was never issued, for a sale of State lands to 
satisfy the clamorous creditors. No oft'ers were made in this country or 
Europe that approached a solution of the difficulty until in 1 881, when 
Mr. Disston offered the amount of the entire indebtedness for 4,000,000 
acres of land. 

At this time Mr. Disston was Treasurer of the Okeechobee Land Com- 
pany, which is engaged in lowering the water in Lake Okeechobee, and 
draining mimense bodies of land known as swamp, and overflowed, that lie 
adjacent to the great lake and its feeders and outlets. The 4,000,000 acre 
purchase was made a-nd drainage operations were begun about the same time. 

Since then the mileage of railroads within the State limits has more than 
trebled and so has the number of steamers plying on the St. John's River. 
Immigration into the State is increasing 100 per cent, annually, and the 
annual increase of tourist travel is over fifty per cent. Above all, as a 
result of these gigantic schemes, and the vast amount of advertising that the 
State receives through them, the attention of capitalists is turned toward 
Florida more than toward any other State in the Union. 

As the greater part of the Disston purchase and all the drainage opera- 
ations are within the limits of South Florida, it is this portion of the State 
more than any other that is directly benefited, and it is at Kissimmee City 
more than at any other point that their immediate results are ..apparent. 
Here the dredges are built, and from here they are operated. The beauti- 
ful Lake, Tahopekaliga, at the northern extremity of which Kissimmee 
City is located, has been lowered six feet by the drainage operations ; and, 
at its lower end, what was once a vast impassable swamp, almost entirely 
submerged, is now a flourishing field of sugar cane. A broad canal has 



Florida Sectionally Considered — South Florida. 45 

been cut through Cross Prairie four miles to East Tahopekaliga Lake, 
which heretofore has had no regular outlet, and by its means vast tracts of 
land formerly worthless now await cultivation. 

Although much has been done in this direction, the work is only 
begun, and for many years to come Kissimmee City will be an important 
point as the headquarters of these gigantic undertakings. 

While in the interior these drainage canals are being dug, the eastern 
coast is the scene of equally important canal operations, and when the 
Florida Coast Line Company's Canal is opened from St. Augustine to 
Biscayne Bay, a wonderful change for the better will be effected in the 
Indian River Country. This coast canal now very nearly connects the 
Matanzas and Halifax Rivers, and work upon it is progressing very satis- 
factorily. 

People are pouring into the peninsular portion of the State in wonder- 
ful numbers, and the development of this section is equal to anything that 
has occurred in the history of Western civilization. Lands are rapidly en- 
hancing in value, and maturing groves are commanding fabulous prices. 

How firm the foundation may be upon which this visible prosperity 
now rests, the future alone can disclose. Everything is so far secondary 
to orange planting that there is little else seen upon which to base cal- 
culations. 

So far the wealth that has developed the section has been carried there 
from elsewhere, and has not been the result of domestic production ; but 
no man familiar with the conditions there can doubt that thousands of 
souls are yet to find in South Florida the one place in North America 
where they can realize their ideal of a semi-tropical home, where a life of 
easy comfort can be enjoyed under laws and political institutions adapted 
to American genius. It is a land where meet the best tempered edges of 
two zones, and where the most desirable features of each blend harmon- 
iously ; where the Southern palm lazily waves an evergreen welcome to the 
sturdy Northern oak ; where the golden fruit of the tropics ripens side 
by side with the ruddy representative of colder climes ; and where the 
breath of the South Sea trade winds comes laden with ozone from the 
boundless ocean, calling back the roses to pale cheeks that have blanched 
under the ruder touch of borean blasts. 



Pi^eparing Land for an Orange Grove, 



BY MAJOR O. P. ROOKS. 



THE writer of the following article, Major O. P. Rooks, of Fruitland 
Park, Sumter County, is a living example of what can be done in 
Florida by men of energy and intelligence on a very small capital. 
Major Rooks went to Florida, from Philadelphia, six years ago, 
with health so shattered that his case had been pronounced hopeless, and 
having recently met with a series of business reverses that had swept away 
his property, leaving him the modest sum of $1,200 with which to start 
life anew. 

He selected a homestead of 160 acres in what was then a wilderness, five 
miles north of Leesburg, in Sumter County, built a modest house of two 
rooms on the banks of a small, but beautiful, lake, sent for his family and 
set to work. The site that he had chosen for his future home was a high 
sandy ridge, covered with a growth of pine and black jack, and pro- 
nounced by the old settlers of the county to be utterly worthless and too 
poor to grow cow peas, let alone oranges. But the land was dry and roll- 
ing, it was I 20 feet higher than the level <^'^ Leesburg, it was dotted with 
sand-bottomed, spring-fed lakes, and everything seemed to indicate that it 
was perfectly healthy ; so Major Rooks located there, despite the warnings 
of the old settlers, and there he has been ever since. 

To-day he is hale and hearty, enjoys as good health as any man in the 
State, and estimates the value of his property at about $50,000. His beau- 
tiful place, which he calls " Windermere,"' is one of the show places of the 
county, and the ten acres of land surrounding his house are filled with 
every known variety of the citrus family, guavas, pine apples, and an infinite 
variety of other fruits, besides hundreds of rare tropical trees, shrubs and 
flowering plants. His vegetable garden would delight the heart of a Long 
Island truck farmer, and his herd of milch cows supply his table with milk, 
cream and butter, from one year's end to the other. .Above all there has 
sprung up around him a thriving settlement of cultivated people from 
England and from the North, who have built and are constantly erecting 
pretty cottages in every direction among the lakes. The Florida Southern 
Railway traverses the settlement, and all its evidences are of a growing and 
substantial prosperity. 

Within six more years this whole beautiful lake country will be one 
vast orange grove. Major Rooks has set out several luge groves for him- 



Preparing Land for an Orange Grove. 47 

self and others, and has already a number of bearing trees. An article 
written by a man of his experience should certainly possess great value for 
beginners in this fascinating business. — Editor. 

The most serious problem confronting the settler of small means, who 
has located in Florida, and desires to make an orange grove, is how to 
meet the expenses of the first few years. In every case there is an interval 
of trial more or less prolonged between the acquisition of land and the 
producing of a bearing grove; and to many, this period of anxious, and 
often unremunerative waiting, presents a fatal barrier to their hopes of ever 
becoming successful orange growers. It is for the benefit of these begin- 
ners, and in hopes of being able to give them a few hints as to the taking 
of the first steps, that I have complied with the request of the editor of this 
Annual to state my methods. 

The first thing to be done after the land for the future grove has been 
secured; is to clear the same. In my own case I have not only been able 
to clear my land and make it pay all the expense thus incurred, but have 
realized a profit from the same during the first year. 

We will suppose that the grove is to cover five acres of ground, which 
is ample to start with. The laud is the same as mine, high rolling pine 
land, v/ith a clay sub-soil, and covered with a thick undergrowth of blick 
jack, v/illow oak and persimmon, with an occasional live oak or water oak 
standing here and there. 

The tools to be used in clearing it are a long handled shovel, an axe, 
a hammock hoe, and a double-bladed steel mattock. The land is first 
grubbed systematically and carefully, and the black jack roots are cut oif 
ten or twelve inches below the surface, to prevent future sprouting. Then 
they are collected in piles and left to dry until ready for the stove. There 
is no wood in Florida the ash of which contains so much potash as the 
root of the black jack. From five acres of land thus cleared I have ob- 
tained a year's supply of the best stove wood, and from eight to ten barrels 
of ashes. These pay the expense of grubbing. 

Next, with a Dixie plow, turn under the wire grass, pine needles, burrs, 
oak leaves, and all other vegetable matter already on the land, instead of 
burning it, as is the common practice. The accumulation of several years 
of this natural mulch is equal to so many crops of cow peas when turned 
under as a fertilizer. 

Now uncover the tap roots of the pine trees, by digging beside each a 
hole about three feet deep and two feet across. Make up your mind which 
way you wish the tree to fall, and dig the hole on that side. Collect all 
the broken pine branches, lightwood knots and old logs, on your land, 
and make a pile of this inflammable material, cut small, in each hole. 
Prepare forty trees in this manner and have them already for firing before 
you apply the match to one. Then Hght them ail at once, and after that 
one man can attend to this number of fires. 

When you first uncover the tap root cut a few gashes in it with your 
axe, and it will catch fire the more easily. In from thirty-six to forty- 
eight hours the tap root will be burned through, and the tree will fall, tear- 
ing up, as it does so, most of the lateral roots. 



48 Preparing Land for an Orange Grove. 

Cut and split all available portions of the fallen trees into fence rails, 
burn the rooti and branches, fill up the holes, and your ground is 
thoroughly cleared and ready for cultivation, with no unsightly stumps 
left to worry you and interfere with your future labors. If this work has 
been done with hired labor, the actual expense is not over thirty dollars 
per acre. 

We will suppose that this work of clearing has been done in the 
winter. In February or March plant cow peas, and during the two following 
months, cultivate them twice. In June or July, when the peas are in bud, 
plow a furrow between every two rows, pull up the vines, trample them 
mto the furrows, and cover them with the plow. On the ridges thus 
formed plant sweet potatoes. From land thus treated I have uniformly 
harvested from one hundred to one hundred and ninety bushels of the 
finest sweet potatoes in the following December. 

After the sweet potatoes are gathered, turn the vines under and prepare 
the ground for your grove by plowing and harrowing. 

Meantime a nursery has been started, and you now have little trees 
nearly a year old and ready to bud. If you can afford it, however, you 
would better plant your first five acres with two-year-old trees, having one- 
year-old buds, which can be bought for from thirty to fifty cents apiece, or 
even with much older trees ; of course what you will do in this matter 
depends entirely upon the length of your purse. If you have cattle set 
out your trees in rows. 20 feet by 50 feet apart, and cow-pen between the 
rows by means of a portable fence, leaving the cattle for about a week in 
each spot, before moving the fence along. If you have no cattle, set the 
trees out in rows, 35 feet by 35 feet apart. In any case plant vegetables 
and small fruits between the rows ; of these latter nothing is more profit- 
able than hardy guavas, which wiU begin to bear in the second year from 
the seed. Pien-to, or flat peaches, have also afforded me good returns, and 
they will bear in three years from the seed. 

Pay especial attention to your nursery, and plant in it every seed you 
can get hold of; you can never have too many nursery trees, and you will 
always find a good market for all you do not wish to use yourself 

Be constantly on the outlook for natural fertilizers. You cannot make 
your land too rich for orange trees, for they are the most voracious devourers 
of plant food that I know of Gather up all the debris of the woods, 
leaves, pine needles, etc., carefully save all stable manure, and in the dry 
season dig muck from the edges of the lakes and ponds. It will pay you 
in the end. Remember that nothing you can raise requires better feeding 
or more unremitting care and attention than the orange tree. 

Phenomenal trees hive been known to bear truit at the age of five years 
from the seed ; but as a general thing orange trees must be ten years old 
before they bear at all, and twelve years old before they yield paying crops. 
For five years after that, or until they are between fifteen and twenty years 
old, their yield will double with each year. At their maturity they will 
yield from twenty to forty dollars ($20 to $40) worth of fruit apiece every 
year, and with from seventy-five to one hundred trees to the acre, you can 
calculate the profits for yourselves. 



Preparing Land for an Orange Grove. 49 

At present prices a thrifiy two-year-old grove is worth about $300 per 
acre : and I have known older groves, not yet in bearing, to sell for $1,000 
per acre ; while for bearing groves, well located, such fabulous prices are 
paid by wealthy Northerners every winter, that I will not lest your cred- 
ulity by quoting them. 

The following classification and description of the several varieties of 
orange most successfully and profitably grown in Florida, is given by Wm. 
Lipsey, a nurseryman of Archer. 

Magnum Bonum. — Size, large to very large ; color, clear, light orange ; 
skin thm, smooth and glossy ; pulp, fine, tender, melting, juicy, sweet and 
vinous. 

Homosassa. — Medium size, skin very thin, remarkably smooth and 
satiny ; color, bright ; pulp very fine ; remarkably juicy, sweet, vinous and 
fine flavor. 

Nonpareil. — Size, above medium ; bright color ; skin thin, pulp tender 
and melting ; juice, sub-acid and vinous. 

Old Vini. — Size, above medium ; color, dark orange ; skin rather rough ; 
pulp somewhat coarse, juicy, sweet and remarkable for a sprightly aro- 
matic flavor. 

Peerless. — Fruit closely resembles Magnum Bonum ; very large, round ; 
color, light clear orange; skm smooth and thin ; fruit heavy and juicy, sub- 
acid ; flavor, delicious. 

Navel. — Size, large to very large ; skin rough, rather thick and tough ; 
pulp very fine, melting, tender, juicy, sweet and good flavor ; valuable for 
late ripening and carrying qualities. 

Tardiff. — Large, dark orange ; skin smooth and thin ; fine grain, juicy 
and sweet; valuable on account of its late ripening, juicy and good after 
all others are gone. 

Maltese Blood. — Fruit, large, sweet, juicy and seedless ; pulp red veins, 
and'when fully ripe and perfect, it is said to be blood red all through; 
tree thornless. 

Sweet Seville. — Small; color, dark; skin, thin; juicy; pulp very fine, 
juicy, melting, very sweet and sprightly. 

Mediterranean Svjeet. — Large, bright, thin skin, juicy, sweet and de- 
licious ; an early and prolific bearer ; thornless. 

Mandarin or Tangerine. — Color, dark orange or more crimson ; rind 
loose, separating readily from pulp ; sells at large prices in the fashionable 
markets. 

Satsuma. — Size, medium; flattened, deep orange color ; smooth, thin 
rind, which is sweet, aromatic and easily detached from the pulp ; color of 
pulp, dark orange ; segments part freely ; fine grain, tender, juicy, sweet 
and delicious ; thornless and seedless. 

The following estimates are approximately true of the comparative 
results from one acre of land under proper cultivation, viz. : 

One acre, properly cultivated, with good reliable seed, planted in good 
land, well drained, in corn, will produce twenty-five bushels, worth $25. 
With fifteen dollars' worth of fertilizer, properly applied, this result may be 
increased to fifty bushels, worth $50. 



50 A Model Florida Farm. 

In cotton, the same land, tillage, manure, labor and expense may pro- 
duce $80. 

In sweet potatoes under similar circumstances, with much less labor 
and exi)ense, the producer will get at least two hundred bushels, 
worth >^ioo. 

The same acre in orange trees, in full bearing, will yield two hundred 
and fifty boxes of oranges, worth to the producer $500. 

As to freight, transportation companies receive none of the corn and 
a very small proportion of the svv-eet potatoes produced. From the cotton 
they receive but a small sum for transporting as compared with the sums 
realized for carrying the orange crop. In cotton it requires sixteen acres 
to till a car, while it requires two cars to carry the produce of one acre in 
oranges. Practically the merchants of the town and the people thereof 
have from every acre of oranges sold $500 added to the circulating medium 
of the community, while from each acre in cotton they receive less 
than $100. 

Of course it requires, as a rule, about ten years from the seed for an 
acre of oranges under ordinary culture to yield two hundred and filiy 
boxes of oranges. Nevertheless, this has been accomplished in som.; 
instances in six years, and frequently in seven or eight years, by thorough 
cultivation. To the producer the cost of transportation to the railroad 
or steamboat is of paramount importance. Distance from point of delivery 
rapidly diminishes the profits on field crops, and those of orchards and 
groves. To illustrate, take ten acres, eight or ten miles away from lines of 
transportation. Only one load can be delivered per day, and with man 
and team at $3.50, the cost for the cotton will be at least 70c. per bale ; 
corn, II cts. per bushel ; sweet potatoes, per bushel, 12^ cts.; oranges, 
20 cts. per box. 

Or, to sum up, the actual cost of delivery will be : 

For ten acres, cotton, - _ _ $7.00 

" " " corn, - - - 55-00 

" " " sweet potatoes, - - 250.00 

" " " oranges, - - 500.00 

The cost within two miles would not exceed one-fourth, probably one- 
fifth of the above estimate. Hence it is evident that it is far better to pur- 
chase good orange land convenient to transportation at one hundred 
dollars per acre, than to pay eight or ten dollars per acre for land eight or 
ten miles distant from the line of transportation. 

A MODEL FLORIDA FARM. 

In connection with this article by Major Rooks, it is interesting to 
know what can be done with a small farm in Floridaby judicious planting, 
well directed industry and liberal fertilizing, and this is well illustrated by 
the following article taken from the Florida Dispatch. 

Within two or three miles of Jacksonville, and on the river bank, west 
of that city, is a small farm of about twelve acres, owned by Capt. William 



A Model Florida Farm. 5 1 

James, and which, diminutive as it is, shows what " intensive " farming will 
do. In this contracted space are concentrated a variety of productions, 
producing profitable crops, that would do credit to a five hundred acre 
farm. 

Capt. James came from Illinois in 1869, and selected this place, though 
one of the most unpromising in the neighborhood, and determined to see 
what could be done with Florida land. After four years of hard toil and 
abundant fertilizing, it was in a condition to produce crops, and to-day 
the soil is making its owner a return that is the wonder of the whole 
country around for miles. It is yielding him a handsome competence, 
and promises him in the near (uture, an independent fortune, as fortunes 
are estimated 'in agricultural communities. The land has increased in 
value presumably from five to seven hundred times its original value. 

Ranking first in importance are the three orange groves of five hundred 
trees, and of various ages. These groves will soon be consolidated into 
one, by filling up the intervening spaces. A considerable portion of the 
trees are nine, and a few fifteen years old. The two younger portions are 
not yet in bearing condition, but from the portion that is, there were sent 
North last year 185 boxes — and the present season promises to increase 
that yield over one-half. Clean cultivation is insisted upon. 

Next in importance, if it does not rank first, as it certainly does as a 
rare and curious feature of Florida agriculture, is a grove of one hundred 
Japan Plum trees, on about three-fourths of an acre of ground. If we 
correctly understood our informant, they are but eight years old, and bear 
an average of three bushels to the tree. These plums realize in the North- 
ern markets twenty-five cents per quart at the lowest, and sometimes forty 
and fifty cents. Beautiful as an orange grove is, this plum grove takes 
just now the champion belt for beauty over the tree with the golden 
fruit. It is, at present, in full bloom, and exceedingly fragrant, the fruit 
ripening in January. Oh! think of that. Northerner, as you shiver over 
your blazing fires in bleak New England ! And then, strawberries will 
be ripe when the sleigh bells are jingling over your snow-clad hills and 
valleys. 

Strawberries, yes — two acres of them on the low damp soil, close by 
the river, are growing luxuriantly near the plum grove ; from this "patch " 
eight thousand quarts of berries were gathered last season. On the west 
side of the dwelling — a comfortable, but unpretentious structure — another 
acre has just been planted, and in due season will tell the inevitable tale 
of careful cultivation. These berries, when ripe, all go North in refriger- 
ators of a capacity of from forty- eight to one hundred and twenty quarts, 
but chiefly in such as contain eighty quarts, and they arrive at their desti- 
nation as fresh as when first put into the boxes for shipment. 

Then, there is another novelty — a fig orchard of half an acre, only two 
years old, yet producing last season a profitable crop. Relative to this 
orchard or grove we obtained but little information, except that it was a 
decided success. 

Nor do even the Japanese persimmon trees, of which there are several on 
the place, with fruit as large as a good sized apple, fill the full measure of 
what might be termed rare and unusual productions in this latitude, for 



52 



A Model Florida Farm. 



there are Pecan trees in full bearing.- The nuts are abundant, and find 
ready sale in Northern markets. 

Adjacent to the house is quite a variety of flowers, among which 
several kinds of roses are conspicuous. Not far from these is a Date 
Palm, some twenty-five or thirty feet high, and it is worth going many 
miles to see, although it is but merely an infant, being only ten years old. 

There are several varieties of peaches grown, but the Northern species 
do not seem to take kindly to the soil and climate ; while the Concord 
and Isabella grape show even less appreciation of this salubrious clime ; 
but his large vineyard of the Scuppernong grape manifests, by a bounteous 
yield, that it is "lo the manor born." 

An abundant grass crop. Now don't incredulously smile»at that — for it 
is true 1 The crop of grass — crab and crow-foot — was indeed a gratifying 
one last season. If no error was committed in noting the statements 
made, there were some three tons to the acre harvested — twenty-five large 
hay-wagon loads from an area of less than three acres, and this too in 
defiance of the "cracker " notion that grass for hay will not grow in paying 
quantities in Florida. A single bale of this hay, at our agricultural fair last 
year, won a ten-dollar premium. 

As a protection againsi cold and violent winds, as well as against frost 
in winter, the three orange groves (soon to be one) on the north and west 
are hedged in by rows of water oaks and cedars ; these keep off", or rather 
break the force of the strong winds, and thus aff"ord a degree of warmth, 
which, however slight, has been found sufficient to preserve the trees from 
injury ; the growth of natural timber or " woods " a little distance away on 
one side, and the river on the other, also serving the same useful purpose. 

The owner of this place has purchased the right to use all the manure 
of an extensive livery stable in Jacksonville, and applies to each acre about 
twenty-five double loads annually, and of commercial fertilizer from three 
to five hundred pounds. Thus the soil is well fed and grows more pro- 
ductive and valuable every year, in spite of the heavy drain upon it, and 
in a ratio far exceeding the expense, heavy as it is. 

The reader has now been given a sketch of what we think he will 
concede to be a model farm, though but a small one ; still it shows what 
can be done with Florida land, and is a conclusive proof of the efficacy of 
intensive, farming ; and it is likewise an evidence of what resolute, per- 
severing effort will achieve in rendering fertile what are now apparently 
sterile wastes of land. Three words cover the whole case — industry, tact 
iiYid/ertilizers. 



Resources of Florida. 53 



Resources of Florida, 



STAPLE COMMODITIES. 

THE staple commodities of Florida for markets outside the State 
are enlarging in number. The long and short staple cotton, 
corn, rye, oats, rice, sugar, syrup, tobacco, vegetables of almost 
every variety, and fruits, tropical and semi-tropical, as well as 
most of those grown in temperate zones, fish, sponge, lumber, turpen- 
tine, resin, etc., are the most prominent. The cereals grown in the 
United States generally do well also in Florida, with the exception, 
perhaps, of wheat, which is supposed to be more subject to rust in 
Florida than further north. For the want of proper mills for converting 
the grain into flour, but few experiments have been made in wheat. 

In the census of 1880 the average of the corn crop of the State of 
Georgia per acre is put down at 9.2 bushels. South Carolina at 9.3 
bushels, and Florida at 9.4 bushels. Florida, therefore, is not entirely 
in the rear. The average per acre of the oat crop in Alabama is put 
down at 9.2 bushels, and Florida at 9.4 bushels. 

A larger area in Florida is suited to the growth of Sea Island cotton 
than in any other one of the States. Indeed about half the whole 
American supply is raised in this State. 

At the Atlanta Exposition, in 1882, a bag of long-staple cotton, from 
Levy County, Florida, took the first premium. 

As this staple brings double and sometimes treble the price of the 
short staple, the localities best suited to its growth will be turned to its 
production. 

The small grain cereals generally have been found to do well in 
Florida as far as they have been tried. Rice does finely, even on the 
poor pine lands when sufficiently fertilized. After cow-penning the 
ground, 60 bushels per acre have been produced. The reclaimed 
swamp lands will be eminently fitted for its production. While this 
grain feeds a majority of the world's people, the straw is excellent 
forage for horses and cattle. But the sugar-cane will, perhaps, be the 
larger crops on the richer lands, whether swamp, low hammock or 
high. The world's demand for the product of the cane is enlarging, 
the price is enhancing, and no substitute has yet been found that will 
adequately supply its place. Another incentive to its production is 
the improved machinery brought into use in the last few years for con- 
verting its juice into sugar and syrup, and purifying its granulations up 
to the highest grades. 



f4 Resources of Florida. 

Jute is now being experimented with in this climate, and with every 
prospect of success. This is the proper soil and climate for it. Its 
growth will diversify Florida crops, and the manufacture of its fibre 
will diversify labor, and diversity of lab:f is one of the great wants 
of the South. There will be a home demand for the manufactured 
article. This will save expense of freightage from abroad and import 
duties upon arrival. 

Another plant proaucmg textile fibre is the Sisal hemp. This 
piant was introduced into Florida while yet a Territory, from Yucatan, 
by one Dr. Perrine, who engaged with the United States Government 
to introduce and grow tropical plants, in consideration of a township 
of land south of the 26th degree of north latitude. His enterprise, for 
some cause, failed, and the grant failed with it; but some of the plants 
he in'roduced found in the locality a genial home, and still live without 
attention and tillage. 



TROPICAL AND SEMI-TROPICAl- FRUITS. 

The pineapple is largely an air plant, and in a suitable clim.ate will 
do well, even in a poor soil. Very fine pineapples have been grown as 
far north as Tampa, about 28 degrees north latitude, and will do well 
up to 29 degrees. On the islands between Key West and the mainland 
and along the Indian River it is a staple crop. Indeed it may be 
grown profitably anywhere south of 29 degrees north. 

The cocoanut just at present is attracting great attention in the 
counties of Monroe and Dade. There are trees in prosperous and 
prolific bearing at Fort Myers, near the northern boundary of Monroe 
County. With a little protection to the plant for the first several years 
during the coldest nights it will do well as far north as the Manatee 
River. 

The date-palm, from which is obtained the date of commerce, is a 
somewhat hardier plant than the cocoanut, and will do well further 
north ; date-trees, and very old ones, are bearing at St. Augustine, 
and in Franklin County, at Apalachicola As yet this fruit has not at- 
tracted much attention as an investment, as about twenty years are 
generally required to obtain fruit from the seed. 

The guava, a tree in its size and shape and manner of growth not 
unlike the peach-tree, does about as well in the southern counties of 
Florida as it can anywhere. From its fruit is made the guava jelly of 
commerce, so widely and so favorably known over the world. The 
taste for the fruit, like the taste for most tropical fruits, is an acquired 
one, but when acquired is fully endorsed. Some persons like the fruit 
upon first tasting it, but the majority require frequent tasting before 
the flavor becomes decidedly agreeable. The full crop jipens in 
August and September, but the trees have blossoms and fruit all the 
year, and all the year the fruit is ripening. They grow with less atten- 
tion than the peach, and sometimes bear the second year from the seed. 
The fruit is ordinarily about the size of the peach, and fully as varied 
in size and quality. So far experience has demonstrated no other 



Resources of Florida. 55 

means of utilizing this fruit for market than by canning, or as jelly 
and marmalade. 

The "sugar-apple " is placed by the Spaniards at or near the head 
of the fruit list for its excellence. In its flavor it is one of the most 
concentrated sweets known among fruits; but the first taste has a smack 
of somethmg repulsive, soon lost in a few repetitions, and then the 
acquired taste is very agreeable. It grows upon a shrub but little, if 
any, larger than the pomegranate, and in size and shape is somewhat 
like the pine cone. It decays too soon after ripening for transporta- 
tion, and as yet has established a use only at home. It thrives as far 
nortn as Tampa. 

The pomegranate, several varieties of sweet and sour, grows finely 
in every part of the State. It is not a marketable product, but when 
properly prepared makes a most delightful sub-acid summer drink — is 
a decided febrifuge much in vogue. The tree with its rich foliage 
and brilliant coral-like flowers is highly ornamental. 

The coffee-plant has attained maturity in the open air in but one 
county in the State, or even the United States. It sometimes attains 
a height of ten or twelve feet Mrs. Atzeroth, of Manatee County, has 
sent several pounds of the matured grain to Washington City, and re- 
ceived a premium for the same. She is engaged mainly, however, in 
raising the plants for sale. Whether it can be grown profitably on a 
large scale, and will figure among the available crops of Florida, is yet 
to be tested. 

The mango is another tropical fruit of high flavor, and is now 
bearing abundantly as far north as the 28th degree of north latitude. 
In size and shape it somewhat resembles a pear, and in flavor has been 
likened to the apricot. This is a marketable fruit — finds ready sale in 
Texas and Louisiana markets. 

The sappadillo (after a little familiarity with it) is a very luscious 
and desirable fruit. The tree attains about the dimensions of the 
orange, but will not stand the cold quite so well. A few trees are 
growing as far north as the Manatee River. They are not yet in bear- 
ing, but, as they grow finely, promise well. 

The alligator pear, or Laurus Persea {Linnceus), is a tree somewhat 
larger than the orange, resembling in the general appearance of its 
foliage and growth the magnolia. The fruit, when matured, is about 
the shape and color (the only similarities) of the pear, is palatable, 
flavor peculiar to itself. Preferred by many to any other tropical fruit. 
Is marketable; bears transportation quite as well as the orange. Attains 
perfection as far north as 29 degrees north latitude. As yet has 
attracted little attention. 

The orange can be more extensively and profitably grown in Florida 
than in any other State of the Union. Louisiana, Texas, and California 
will in time compete with us in the production of this popular fruit ; 
but from advantages we enjoy in certain peculiarities of climate, soil, 
and seasons, it is more than likely that Florida will ever retain a superi- 
ority over any other section of- the country in its production. 

The history of orange-growing in Florida as an industry is very 



55 Resources of Florida. 

recent, though the primeval forests abound, in some localities, in native 
wild groves. With the first settlement of St. Augustine by the Span- 
iards it is probable that the orange was planted and cultivated with 
success. During the period of American occupation, from the cession 
in 1819-21 up to the close of the civil war in 1865, many Floridians 
had planted and matured extensive groves, prominent among which 
was the renowned Dummit Grove on Indian River, together with others 
of less size at St. Augustine and at several points along the St. John's 
River and at Tampa Bay. Still these ante-bellum groves were merely 
among the embellishments of home surroundings with a few wealthy 
proprietors, as fish-ponds or other ornamental features sometimes are 
upon the premises of Northern men of wealth ; but nowhere in Flor- 
ida was orange-growing regarded as a business to be pursued solely for 
profit. 

After tne .ate war the winter climate of Florida was sought by hun- 
dreds of Northern people in pursuit of health. The beauty of the rich 
golden fruit, amid its dark, green foliage, attracted the eye, and, as 
many of these visitors bought and improved homes along the banks of 
the St. John's and other accessible points, they began the propagation 
of the orange. Gradually the facilities for its culture and the wonder- 
ful profitableness of the business became apparent, and induced invest- 
ments in small tracts for the purpose. Year after year, as at various 
points additional trees and young plantings came into bearing, the 
great superiority of the Florida fruit over any other made itself felt in 
the North. The demand for " Florida oranges" began to grow, prices 
advanced, improved methods of propagating by budding, pruning, and 
fertilizing obtained ; year by year the demand and supply continued to 
increase. Soon choice locations adapted to the culture of the fruit 
began enhancing in value — lots that for fifty years had remained 
vacant at $1.25 per acre, were found to command and readily bring $50 
to $100 per acre. And so the enormous profitableness of this industry 
became noised abroad, and the " Orange fever" was fairly established, 
and not without good cause; for, however extravagantly the subject 
has in many instances been treated by some writers, not always with- 
out selfish purposes in inducing sale and settlement of lands, there is 
no shadow of doubt as to the really sure and safe ground for the invest- 
ment of untold thousands of dollars in making orange groves. One 
grove alone, the Harris, will yield its proprietor 163,000 net profit this 
year. 

One thousand dollars per acre per annum has time and again been 
realized from this business. Indeed, double that amount per acre has 
been frequently made ; and with proper culture and fertilization, 
where the latter is needed, $1,000 per acre is an available crop. Like 
all excellent things, orange culture has many and serious obstacles to 
its successful accomplishment Being a new business, there is not a 
vast amount of experience to govern and direct the beginner. Almost 
as many different theories exist as to the most approved methods of 
culture as there are men engaged in it. 

The natural enemies of the tree and fruit are numerous, and not 



Resources of Florida. 57 

very well understood. An entomologist, recently sent from tl.e fiureau 
at Washington, reports having discovered no less than thirty-five differ- 
ent insects that are in a greater or less degree damaging to the orange. 
Judicious selection of locality, as well as location for groves, are most 
important matters. The selection of stocks, buds, seeds, and the best 
methods of planting, protecting and cultivating, are all material factors 
of success. Frosts, droughts, gales, and other casualties are to be 
considered, and time is largely of the essence of the undertaking. We 
believe, from experience thus far, that on a?i average it requires twelve 
or fifteen years to make an orange grove very profitable from the time 
of planting. True it is that in some, perhaps many, instances, where 
the environments were in all respects most favorable, much better re- 
sults have been obtained. 

The writer has had numerous inquiries made of him from all parts 
of the country as to the advisability of poor men going to Florida 
for the purpose of engagmg m orange culture. He is frequently asked : 
" How much capital is required to enable a man to engage in growing 
oranges ?" " Can a man with very moderate means put out an orange 
grove and make a support off the land while the trees are growing ?" etc. 
These, like many others of analogous character, are very pertinent in- 
quiries, but quite beyond most persons' capacity to answer. The 
amount of capital required depends, of course, on the extent to which 
the enterprise is pursued. The cost of land, trees, labor, and support 
are all involved, and these vary as to localities, and what might be 
thought a support by different people. 

It has been customary heretofore by writers on this subject to sub- 
mit estimates of the cost of these several items, appended to which 
frequently occurs such an entry as " Value of five acres in bearing trees, 

at 7 years old, $ ," etc. . We will attempt no such table. We have 

been quite unable to reconcile the great discrepancies of experimenters 
in their estimates of bringing a grove into bearing ; too much so, at any 
rate, to be able to digest therefrom reliable data for the guidance of 
others. 

We believe, however, that orange-growing, while it of course can 
be engaged in at a decided advantage by those who have means to con- 
duct it on a cash basis, and be independent of support until such time 
as the grove is an assured success, does not, nevertheless, present any 
insurmountable features to *' poor men," — by which term we mean, in 
this instance, men without ready money and dependent upon their 
own labor for a support. Indeed, in the knowledge of the writer, 
many of the most successful and to-day independent orange propri- 
etors in Florida began the business with no other capital than their own 
labor. 

But for fear of misleading minds prone to overlook the details when 
so dazzlinoj a prospect is offered them of converting in a few years 
acres of $1.25 land into bonanzas yielding princely incomes, we caution 
them that there is a long, hungry gap between raw pine woods and 
groves of bearing orange-trees. It takes hard work, plenty of pluck, 
assured health, good luck, and favorable auspices. To all of which a 



58 Resources of Florida. 

large family, bad health, indolei>ce, inexperience, or accidents are 
possible drawbacks. 

It has been urged that the profits of orange-growing would directly 
attract so many to the business as to overstock the market and break 
it down ; but a little reflection will dissipate such fears. Apples sell 
as readily now, and at as good prices, as they did forty years ago, and 
yet there are millions of acres suitable to growing apples where there 
are hundreds suitable for growing oranges, and there are millions of 
apples now on the market where there used to be one. If the apple 
nidrket cannot be so overstocked as to break it down, much less can 
the market for oranges. The consumption of the orange within the 
United States is put down at 600,000,000 per annum. A little above 
50,000,000 of that supply is furnished at home; the remainder, aj 
shown at the custom-houses, is made up of receipts from abroad. 
Florida furnishes about one-twelfth of the supply, while foreign 
sources furnish the other eleven-twelfths. Florida fruit is of a better 
quahty and richer flavor, and the foreign article finds a market among 
us only because the home supply fails to meet the demand. And 
this demand is increasing almost as rapidly as orange-trees in Florida 
are multiplying. 

Other members of the citrus familj', viz., the lemon, lime, citron, 
grape, fruit, and shaddock, can be successfully grown in at least a large 
portion of the State. The lime and lemon will be about as widely 
used as the orange, though not so abundantly, and as not a tithing of 
so many are engaged in growing them, they will, perhaps, be about as 
profitable. 

The grape-fruit is only a larger and coarser variety of the orange. 
The shaddock is a yet larger fruit — measuring some ten or twelve 
inches in diameter. 

The citron is a healthy, vigorous grower and prolific bearer, though 
less hardy than the lemon or the orange. By a process, as yet not un- 
derstood in Florida, from this fruit is prepared, in the East, the citron 
of commerce ; which art, when acquired here, will develop only another 
source of industry and revenue to the State 

The banana is one of the most popular of tropical productions. It 
is generally relished from the first ; but even this fruit requires a little 
practice to develop in full a palatable sense of its richness and deli- 
cacy. Moreover, it belongs to the family — the plaintain — which is 
claimed to be the richest of all the fruits in nutritious matter. It has a 
number of varieties. The hardiest of these, and the one most widely 
scattered over the State, is the African. This variety needs to be quite 
ripe to be in its highest degree palatable. Most of the other varieties, 
as the French, Fig, Dwarf, Red, Cavendish Lady-finger, and Apple, are 
regarded as more delicate in their flavor. 

Parties growing for the market are selecting some one or other of 
these finer varieties, even though of more delicate vitality. This plant 
sprouts or tillers from a single root or bulb, each sprout in its turn be- 
coming the parent of another generation of sprouts, which attain their 
maturity in about fourteen months, when the pendant fruit is developed 



Resources of Florida. 59 

at the top, after the ripening of which the sprout dies and makes room 
for a younger one. One season, therefore, is not sufficient for the 
wants of the plant. The first white frost disposes of its leaves, and a 
freeze of the stem also. 

With a little painstaking the fruit can be ripened all over Florida, 
and even further north. Let the plant, when it comes up in the spring, 
have tillage and fertilization (it requires a rich soil), and at the com- 
mencement of cold weather take up and shelter from cold by embank- 
ing in earth, as in case of sugar-cane. The leaves will perish, but the 
stem will be preserved with more certainty than the eye of the sugar- 
cane. In the following spring, if these stems are reset and cultivated, 
ripened fruit during the summer will be assured. This precaution, 
however, is only necessary during some winters in the extreme northern 
counties of the State. It is very tenacious of life, and bears caking up 
and resetting almost like an onion. The plant belongs to the order 
of Afiisas, and is closely allied to the Af. Textillis or ManiHa hemp of 
the Philippine Isles It furnishes a fibre of extreme tenacity and dura- 
bility, and may in time come to be extensively utilized as a fibre-pro-; 
ducing plant. Another property of probable value possessed by this 
plant is its juice, which is very abundant in stem and leaf, trickling in 
quite a stream when fresh cut ; and makes an indelible dye, which can 
be varied in color by the addition of other matter, and this dye 
improves with age. The fruit is worth far more than its cost for both 
food and ornamentation, and no Florida home is complete without its 
surrounding of the rich semi-tropical foliage of the banana. 

The Japan plum, or loquat, as well as the Japanese persmimon,' 
flourishes throughout the State ; both are excellent fruit, with growing 
popularity, and promise to be profitable products for markets beyond 
the State. The persimmon is as large as an apple, and in some of its 
varieties of much the same shape. Some specimens of the fruit are 
seedless. The flavor is rich and pleasant. 

The peach, though it grows about as well in the far south of the' 
State as farther north, yet does not fruit as regularly. Sometimes,] 
for several years together, the tree will cast every bloom. In the 
northern counties, while the orange-tree grows well, and even better 
than in the thinner lands of the southern counties, and for the last half 
a century have grown full crops for more than three-fourths of the 
years, yet are liable occasionally to be killed down by a severe freeze ; 
but the peach, in at least its earlier varieties, offers a high remunera- 
tion for its tillage. In North Florida it can be ready for the earliest 
market and command monopolizing prices. The pien-to, or flat peach 
of China, begins to ripen in the neighborhood of Tallahassee, in Leon 
County, in the last week in April, and continues for a month These 
peaches brought extravagant prices in New York last spring. 

Pears of very many varieties, but especially the Dwarfs, have been 
for many years favorite incumbents of the orchards in the northern 
and middle portions of the State, and are found to succeed well. 

Grapes of several varieties grow wild throughout Florida. They 
rarely if ever occur in the pine woods ; but, in hammock land, trees are 



6o Resources of Florida. 

hung and festooned in every direction with the luxuriant growth of 
vines. 

In many localities considerable attention has been given to the 
cultivation of domesticated varieties. The Concord, Catawba, Ives, 
Clinton, and other American grapes of that family have been found to 
grow and fruit well wherever the proper attention has been given the 
pruning, etc. As to the cultivation of grapes of that character on a 
large scale for making wine we know of no very extensive operations, 
and it is questionable whether the rainy season, which occurs during 
vintage in July, will not prove a serious drawback, until experience 
and selection have induced a variation in the grape that will induce 
earlier ripening. The Delaware is a determined success in Middle 
Florida. 

The scuppernong has been more extensively propagated than any 
other grape. 

Of the production of any varieties of European wine grapes we are 
unable to give any reliable information. Many experiments have been 
made, and no7ie, we think, have so far been very favorable. 

Apples, so far as we know, have never been extensively nor satis- 
factorily grown in Florida. There are in some of the northern coun- 
ties small orchards of considerable age that have borne fruit abundantly 
for years, but are not of choice varieties. 

Figs of every known variety do well in Florida, but in the most 
southern counties are a little uncertain about fruiting. When it does 
bear in those sections, the fruit is quite as good as that grown farther 
north, and it may be that painstaking in its tillage will discover a reme- 
dy for this irregularity. In the East it is an article of great commercial 
value, and when Florida has acquired skill in preparing her fruits for 
market, the fig will probably become prominent among the list. The 
tree attains great age, and continues to bear indefinitely. Every home 
has its fig-trees of different varieties, and the fruit is among the most 
wholesome articles of diet. The tree and fruit have no known 
enemies. 

Plums of many wild varieties are found throughout the State. 
Little attention has been bestowed on them. Some of the early South- 
ern varieties have been found profitable for shipment North. They 
ripen about the first of April, and can be put in the Northern market 
at a time when they have no other fruit to compete with. 

The pecan of the West grows finely all over the State. It requires 
no tillage and nursing. Comes into bearing from the planting of the 
nuts in ten or twelve years. The fruit is abundant, falls when ripe, is 
easily and cheaply gathered, bears keeping and rough shipment any 
distance in any climate, and is quoted in the New Orleans market 
to-day at i6 1-2 cents per pound, wholesale, for the beat quality of 
Texas nuts. 

The Reverend Charles Beecher, of Massachusetts, has on his South- 
ern home at Newport, on the St. Mark's River, 21 miles south of Talla- 
hassee, a very fine grove of pecan-trees in full bearing. 

The almond grows well in Florida. Little success has been had in 



Resources of Florida. 6i 

maturing fruit of any other variety than the hardshell — which variety 
is not marketable. We know of no drawback to the successful produc- 
tion of other varieties, save the heretofore want of proper care and at- 
tention. 

OF THE LIST OF SMALL FRUITS OR BERRIES, 

we think experience in Florida discards all except the blackberry, 
whortleberry, and strawberry. Currants, gooseberries, raspberries, so 
far as we know, have never proved a success in Florida. 

Blackberries and dewberries grow wild all over the State in great 
profusion. Some attention has been given in Middle Florida, where 
labor is abundant and cheap, to drying the berries for shipment. The 
dried fruit commands 8 to 14 cents per pound, net. 

Whortleberries grow luxuriantly in Hernando County, and ripen in 
April. 

Strawberries are one of the prominent subjects of interest to the 
fruit growers and market gardeners. This delightful fruit, so eagerly 
sought after in every market, grows to great perfection throughout the 
State of Florida. The fruit comes into the market too early to find 
competition from any other section, and Florida strawberries enjoy a 
monopoly in the Eastern seaboard markets for many weeks during 
January, February, and March. The production and shipment of 
the berries North is rapidly increasing, and has now assumed such 
proportions as to secure the provision by the transportation com- 
panies of suitable refrigerating cars for their proper preservation in 
transitu. 

EARLY VEGETABLES. 

The raising in Florida of early vegetables for shipment to Northern 
markets is rapidly assuming extensive proportions, and will, in all 
time to come, prove a most important and profitable feature of her 
industries. 

In South Florida tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans thus far have been 
the leading articles for shipment. The tomato has been the most 
profitable. In that section of the State the fall and winter months are 
best suited for vegetable growing Beans, peas, cucumbers, potatoes, and 
cabbages can be grown at seasons which command for them monopo- 
lizing prices. Five, six, and seven hundred dollars per acre have been 
realized, both from cabbages and tomatoes. Cucumbers have paid as 
much to the area in tillage, to the early grower, as any vegetable on 
the list. The great drawback, thus far, to early market gardeners has 
been the want of ready and reliable transportation facilities. These, 
however, are rapidly multiplying and extending. And the vegetable 
and fruit trade will soon be so immense in this proportion as to com- 
mand for their use all the commercial facilities that human skill and in- 
dustry can supply. The State seems likely soon to become a vast, 
fruit orchard and vegetable garden. 

The sweet potato comes nearer being a universal crop in Florida 



62 Resources of Florida. 

than any other the soil produces. It is easily propagated from the 
roots, sprouts, or vine, and sometimes the seed, though the latter mode 
is rarely used. From its easy propagation and cultivation, its large 
yield, and the variety and excellence of the dishes prepared from it, 
it is one of the indispensable crops. In the southern counties it may be 
planted at any season of the year, and generally is not taken from the 
ground until needed for use 

The Irish potato, or " white potato," is accredited with being a na- 
tive of Chili and Peru, and was introduced into North America by the 
Spaniards, from whence it was in 1586 carried by Sir Walter Raleigh 
to England, and perhaps acquired its name of " Irish " from the ex- 
tent to which it is grown in Ireland, and the excellence with which the 
Irish soil produces it. This tuber has within the last year or two 
taken a very prominent place among the very profitable early crops in 
Florida. On the best class of lands truckmen have been getting 
about an average of thirty barrels of first-class shipping potatoes per 
acre, which, getting into the Eastern markets about the time the old crop 
is exhausted, have been ncttitig, over cost of shipping and selling, about 
$4 per barrel, making, say, from $100 to $120 per acre, realized from 
land in a short period of generally 100 days, and leaving the ground 
ready for some other crop by first of May. 

There are in Florida many plants from which starch may be ob- 
tained, but there are three which are cultivated solely with a view to 
its preparation. These are the Maranta Arundemiiea, or '' arrow- 
root of commerce;" coontie, or "Florida arrowroot;" and the 
Manihat Utilissima; or cassava. 

Arrowroot grows well on good land. It is not extensively grown 
for market, but frequently is grown and utilized for food purposes, as 
well as starch-making. 

Coontie is indigenous to the southern counties, where it grows 
most luxuriously. On the Miami River, in Dade County, parties have 
been engaged in manufacturing starch from this plant for the Key 
West market. It is there sometimes appropriated to the uses of the 
table. Doubtless tillage would improve it in its useful properties, just 
as other plants have been thus improved and developed. 

Cassava. — Parties who have cultivated this plant pronounce it to be 
a most excellent food crop for fattening hogs. They say that an acre of 
this crop will go further in feeding than an acre of potatoes. Like the 
potato, it may be propagated by cuttings of the stems From this 
plant is prepared the tapioca of commerce. Recently this plant has 
been utilized in the production of glucose, which it is found to yield in 
quantities. 

Tobacco has been found, from the earliest settlement of Florida, to 
be well adapted to both the climate and soil, and has been-, at different 
periods and in different localities, extensively produced. Several 
varieties of marked difference in character and quality are commonly 
cultivated. Experience has taught that Florida tobacco possesses a 
fineness and toughness of leaf that admirably suits it to the use of 
wrappers for cigars. Before the war a wide reputation was established 



Rcsoiircej of Florida. 63 

by the planters in the County of Gadsden for the production of what 
was termed the " Florida Speckled Leaf," which was pronounced the 
very best for wrappers grown anywhere, and commanded unusually 
high prices. The lands of that county were found to be peculiarly 
suited to its production. One thousand pounds was the average yield 
per acre, and several handsome fortunes were amassed by its culture. 
A highly flavored and fragrant article of tobacco is being extensively 
planted for home consumption in many portions of the State. This 
(luite equals in the excellence of its flavor the Cuban weed ; is indeed 
grown from seed originally introduced from that island. What are 
known as shell hammocks in the County of Wakulla, in Middle Florida, 
and indeed in many other parts of the State, are most admirably suited 
to the production of this Cuba variety, and are just now attracting re- 
newed attention for that purpose. 

Melons of every variety, from the classic pumpkin to the primitive 
gourd, abound in Florida, are of the very finest quality, and in the 
cantaloupe and watermelon furnish only an additional entry to the 
shipping list of the truckman, and are by no means one of his least 
profitable interests. 

500 acres were planted in watermelons in Jefferson and Madison 
counties this year. 

Silk might easily be made a most profitable industry in Florida. 
The Morns Miillicaitlis and M. Alba — both grow most luxuriantly. 
Cuttings of either laid horizontally in furrows, and covered in early 
spring, put up a vigorous sproui at every joint, and grow in ten years 
to be hedges of stout canes. These kept cut back, so as to stool and 
multiply the number of sprouts, and not allowed to grow into trees, and 
thus elude the reach, will the third year, and thereafter, furnish heavy 
crops of foliage for feeding the worms. 

Honey is rapidly becoming a staple product of Florida, whose 
climate and flora seem specially adapted to the propagation of bees. 
Even in the winter months, in South Florida, there is a supply of 
flowers quite sufficient to support the hives. This permits heavier tolls 
to be made on them, as less honey must be left to feed during winter. 
Bees work in South Florida all winter. 

Mr. W. S. Hart, of New Smyrna, is the m.ost prominent apiarist in 
Florida, and is Vice-President of the North American Bee-keepers 
Society. 

This gentleman says : " In some portions of Florida bee-keeping 
pays better than in any other State. I have never seen or known 
of a diseased colony of bees in the State. The enemies are 
toads, dragon-flies, ants, moths, and birds. I consider the coast 
counties south of 29th parallel unsurpassed for the industry. Our 
bees winter perfectly on summer stands and gather honey or pollen 
every month in the year. Some of the leading honey and pollen 
producing trees are the maple, willow, sweet-gum, bays, orange, myrtle, 
oak, bass-wood, hickory,, youpon, mock-olive, saw-palmetto cabbage- 
palmetto, and mangrove, the last two of which come together in the 
middle of summer, and are unequaled as honey-producers by anythin*; 



64 Resources of Florida. 

else in the whole vegetable kingdom known to the writer. They pro- 
dr.ce honey in abundance of the filiest quality, and we think it safe to 
say never fail to produce a good crop. We also have honey-producing 
vines and plants too numerous to mention." 



WOODS. 

Numerous inquiries have been addressed to the writer from differ- 
ent quarters as to the supply and location of different commercial 
v/oods to be found in Florida. 

Besides her boundless areas of yellow pine, whose timber is supply- 
ing the world's markets, there is in Florida, perhaps, a larger supply of 
cypress timber than in any other section of the United States. This 
timber for the manufacture of staves for syrup and sugar barrels and 
hogsheads is unsurpassed, is being extensively sawed and shipped to 
the prairie States as railroad cross-ties, and is rapidly coming in de- 
mand, especially in Germany, for ship-building. It is, too, the shingle 
timber of the South. Untold fortunes are still standing in this timber 
along the numerous rivers, lakes, lagoons, and swamps. 

The live-oak, so durable and valuable for ship-knees, is still abun- 
dant along the coast and rivers, and of the most gigantic size. 

Red cedar, of the very best quality, abounds in all the low ham- 
mock lands along the coast and rivers. The cutting of this timber has 
for years been a prominent industry. Large supplies are consumed by 
cedar-mills at Cedar Keys and Tampa, where quantities o^" this wood are 
sawed to supply the pencil factories of A. W^ Faber & Co 

White-oak, suitable for stave timber, is to be found in very consid- 
erable quantities in many portions of the State — in the counties of Jack- 
son, Calhoun, Gadsden, Jefferson, and Wakulla, in Middle Florida. 
Especially in the great hammocks along St. Mark's and VVakulla Rivers, 
in the latter county, are to be found rich supplies of this valuable timber, 
ready of access from the streams. So rapid is growth, that upon large 
plantation tracts, cultivated up to the beginning of the late war, and 
since then left idle, forests of white-oak have sprung up, and, in the 
short space of twenty-two years, attained a growth that will square from 
ten to twelve inches. It is a curious sight to ride through a forest of 
stately trees and count the old corn ridges beneath them. 

Red-oak is the principal timber growth over ext-nsive areas of 
high hammock in the hill country of Middle Florida. This timber, 
while somewhat too porous and too brash to be used in the manufac- 
ture of agricultural implements, answers admirably for staves for a 
certain class of barrels, and furnishes a most abundant supply of tan- 
bark, making the manufacture of leather a cheap and profitable indus- 
try in that section. 

Many other varieties of oak abound throughout the State. - 

Hickory is abundant over extensive areas Trees of the most 
extraordinary size are to be found in all the hammocks. The climate 
of Florida makes the second growth of this ordinarily slow-growing 
tree rapid, and inexhaustible supplies of most excellent hickory can for 



Resources of Florida. 65 

years be drawn from the hammocks all over Florida. The same is 
true of the ash in many localities. 

Poplar is a common growth along most of the rivers ; the supply 
is good. 

Wild cherry and black walnut are not so abundant, but are very 
rapid growers and attain great size. Several enterprising spirits pro- 
pose the planting of extensive plantations of black walnut on the shell 
lands along the St. Mark's Railroad in Wakulla County. The cheap- 
ness of the lands (Old Forbes' Purchase), their wonderful fertility, the 
rapidity with which a wood of black walnut attains marketable growth 
(about fifteen years), and the absence of any cost of culture and fen- 
cing, it is thought, makes such a scheme a safe and sure investment. 

'• Stinking cedar" ( Tarreya T.ixifolia Arnott) is an evergreen, be- 
longing to the yew tribe of conifers, peculiar to Florida, and confined 
to a rather limited locality near Aspalaga, on the Apalachicola River. 
The timber is possessed of the most remarkable durability, great 
lightness, is soft, splits straight, can be rived as thin as card-board, 
has elasticity, receives a high polish, and ought to be valuable for any 
purposes requiring these qualities in a high degree. It is said that the 
dead trunks of the torreya are to be found imbedded in the alluvial 
drift of the Apalachicola River bottom in a perfect state of preser- 
vation (as to the heart), and that they must, from every indication, 
have been exposed to the decomposing influences of earth and water 
for centuries. The lamp-posts in the Capitol Grounds in Tallahassee 
are made of this remarkable wood. 

Red bay [Laurens Carolinensis) is commonly termed " Florida 
mahogany." It is very abundant throughout the hammocks and 
swamps of Florida. Its dark-colored, handsomely-veined wood makes 
it valuable for cabinet work. It commands ready sale in the markets. 

It would be quite an endless task to enumeri.te the long list of 
Florida woods that have been and could be utilized in the arts. As yet, 
except in the case of pine, cypress, cedar, and live-oak, very little has 
been done in manufacturing timber from the many valuable trees in the 
State. Vast forests of most valuable wood have been felled and 
burned. As transportation facilities are increased and manufacturing 
developed, more attention will be directed to the sawing of hard 
woods. 

STOCK-RAISING, 

as applied in Florida, embraces so many purposes, methods, and de- 
grees of profitable success, that it is quite difficult in the limits of a pub- 
lication of this character to discuss it intelligibly to one totally unfamil- 
iar with it. 

Along the coast, in all the counties east of Escambia, are to be 
found larger or smaller herds of cattle. These run at large through 
the pine woods, swamps, or salt marshes, and thrive on the coarse 
pasturage in a manner quite profitable and satisfactory to their owners, 
who " round up " once a year, mark and brand the new calves, and give 



66 Resources of Florida. 

little other attention. So little expense attends this sort of stock-rais- 
ing that, notwithstanding the poor character of the cattle produced, 
they prove valuable. Indeed, the hide and tallow in a five-year-old 
steer would return a good profit on the cost of his keep. These cattle 
are small, with thick heavy necks and fore-parts and narrow loins, but 
when fat will clean, at four years old, about 500 to 600 pounds, which 
finds ready sale among Floridians at from 6 to 10 cents per pound. 
There are stock-men in all the coast counties west of the Suwanee, 
however, who realize very handsome results from the sale of these 
cattle. It is doubtful whether the rough pasturage they rely upon will 
admit of a very marked improvement in these cattle, even if crossed 
with improved breeds. 

In the northern counties of Middle Florida, on the red lands, 
where many varieties of excellent pasture grasses abound, and where 
stock are kept under fence, a very different tone of things exists. 
Thoroughbreds of the Durham, Devon, Jersey, Ayreshire, Hereford, 
and Alderney breeds have for some years been introduced and liber- 
ally used, until a large percentage of the cattle in that section are 
grades of one or the other of these bloods. The Bermuda grass pas- 
turages of these counties are naturally of a very fine quality, and of 
recent years are receiving a degree of attention tending very greatly to 
their rapid improvement. Stock-raising of all kinds is being fostered 
by the farmers as most profitable adjuncts to their farming operations, 
not only in the growing of manures, but the ready sale at good prices 
of the dairy products and increase. Near the towns of Madison, Mon- 
ticello, and Tallahassee are to be found several herds of thorough- 
breds that do credit to their owners, and are fast winning a reputation 
for these places for excellent dairy products. Butter exhibited at the 
annual exhibition of the Middle Florida Agricultural and Mechanical 
Association compares most favorably with the production of any dairy 
districts. This is a rapidly growing industry in these localities, and 
bids fair to take a prominent place. 

In South Florida cattle-raising is a leading industry. More capital 
has been employed in it than in the tillage of the soil, until within the 
last few years. 

That this investment pays well has this practical proof : more 
money has been made in that business than in any other, until quite re- 
cently, and a number have thus grown wealthy. The cattle are not so 
large as those grown in Texas. First, because the native grass of that 
part of Florida is less nutritious than that of Texas, and, further, far 
less attention has been given here to improve the native breeds 01 
stock. The buyers in the Cuban markets, to which shipments are 
made, are said to prefer the Florida to the Texas beef. If the South 
Florida grass be not so nutritious, it seems to impart a more agreeable 
flavor to the flesh. 

As cattle-raising has been a paying enterprise in the past history of 
the State, so it is likely to be still, in some places, for years to come. 
Gradually, however, it will be forced to retire before the tread of a pop- 
ulation too dense to leave it, as at present, the whole land surface for 



Resources of Florida, 6/ 

pasturage. These cattle-men have a large experience of their observ- 
ing powers through what they see and what they hear, and the thinking 
each one does for himself. They are really better informed frequently 
than some who know far more than they about books. These men will 
see the trend of things, and be ready to change their investments 
as soon as it will be best for them and for the country. 

As the inquiring immigrant must needs pass through the country, 
the better to see if it be suited to the supply of his wants, and as a 
thinly-settled country is, for that reason, less inviting to the traveler, it 
may be pertinent for his encouragement to mention one prominent 
feature in the population of the Southern counties. I mean the cordial 
hospitality which is met at their hearthstones. As in nature they are 
the same with other men, we suppose ready hospitality must result from 
their employments and surroundings. They need frequently the help 
one of another in herding their stock ; then, in the woods and at the 
table of some one of their number, most of the men of a pretty wide 
circle frequently take their meals together. They are thus put in sym- 
pathy one with another. Another characteristic of the section is to 
add but little to their bill of fare because of the company. The dishes 
ordinarily provided for the family are set before the guests. And as it 
costs less trouble, so he is the more heartily welcome than in many 
places where there is more preparation and more pretension in the re- 
ception given. From whatever source this trait of character may 
have originated, it is now the habit of the people, and will sometimes 
cheer the traveler as he journeys through a strange land. 

Sheep have been found to do well in Florida wherever they have been 
given a fair trial. In many portions of the State, where the land is very 
thin and sandy, the vegetation is correspondingly sparse and coarse ; 
and while sheep will live on it and increase at a fair rate, they of 
course under such circumstances produce an inferior quality of both 
wool and mutton, and tend very much to become bare of wool on the 
legs and bellies ; but their continued presence has been found to gradu- 
ally overcome these very drawbacks, and, under their grazing, pine 
woods, originally very scant of vegetation, have in a few years become 
enriched ; new characters ofweeds and grass have sprung up, and sheep 
and new crops prove of mutual benefit to one another. In some other 
portions of the State, especially in the counties west of the Apalachicola 
River, the rolling pine woods furnish pasturage of a much better char- 
acter, and sheep have been found to do proportionately well. There 
are to be found in that part of the State some very fair flocks, and the 
profits therefrom, when compared with the cost of their maintenance, 
show a «<?/ perhaps beyond what is realized by breeders of a higher class 
with more expensive surroundings. Sheep, like goats, feed upon a 
greater variety of plants than cattle, and are susceptible of profitable 
handling on pastures that would not support a herd. 

On the red lands of the middle and northern portions of the State 
sheep have always proved profitable. Heretofore the extensive cul- 
ture of cotton and other agricultural crops has rather tended to keep 
all available lands in cultivation ; but as the supply and quality of col- 



68 Resources of Florida, 

ored labor has decreased in that section, many broad acres have been 
turned out. On .hese old plantations the Bermuda grass, having no 
longer the plough and hoe to contend with, has asserted itself, and ex- 
tensive pasturages of this nutritious crop new invite the introduction of 
flocks. 

The farmers of this section are, as a rule, very intelligent and wide- 
awake people ; are not slow to perceive the advantages of the new op- 
portunity, and are beginning to turn attention and money in this new 
channel. Bucks of improved strains are being introduced, both of long 
and medium wools. 

In the southernmost counties of the State sheep husbandry is rapidly 
increasing, and is thought to be more profitable than cattle. 

Hogs can be raised as cheaply and of as fine quality as anywhere. In 
ante-bellum times all planters in Middle Florida were large pro- 
ducers of bacon. The difficulty of protecting them from theft in that 
region since the "old plantation smoke-houses" ceased to be a certain 
source of supply, has done much to limit the business. Yet many small 
farmers in all the northern counties have introduced Berkshire, Poland 
China, Essex, and Chester White breeds, and beside their entire home 
supply have a surplus of bacon, hams, and lard to dispose of at good 
prices. In many other portions of the State this character of stock is 
allowed to run at large ; they gain a living in the woods, and in one 
and two years grow large enough to kill, having cost their owners 
nothing. ' 

Horses in some parts of the State are being bred profitably, and of a 
most excellent quality. The " cow-ponies" in use among the cattle- 
men of the South are a breed as peculiar to Florida as is the mustang 
in Texas. They are admirably suited to the uses made of them. In 
Madison, Jefferson, Marion, Alachua, Leon, Gadsden, and Jackson 
Counties, some thoroughbred stallions have for some years been made 
use of, and many very stylish youngsters are to be found in the stables 
of breeders in those localities. The presence of nutritious grasses in 
those counties, together with the firm smooth roadways, gives advan- 
tage and attraction to the raising of horses and mules that is wanted 
elsewhere. 

In the annual premium list of the agricultural shows and stock ex- 
hibitions in those sections, a prominent place is given native colts. Less 
attention has been directed to the acquirement of speed in the produc- 
tion of horses in that part of Florida than to the acquisition in the 
colts of style, bottom, and general usefulness. 

FISH. 

The great variety and excellence of the fish in Florida is not one of 
the least attractions, whether to the sportsman or more practical house- 
wife. The lakes ancl streams of the fresh waters abound in fish of 
the finest quality, prominent among which are the black bass, pike, 
jack, bream, and many varieties of the perch family. Along the coast 
the list of varieties is longer than the fisherman's list of names for 



Resources of Florida. 69 

them. Red snapper, black snapper or grouper, sheephead, red-fish, 
black-fish, pompano, Spanish mackerel, rock-fish, mullet, and a long 
list of small " pan-fish" are chief among the marketable varieties. The 
pompano is regarded as the choice among epicures. The snapper and 
grouper are both deep-water fish, and are taken in great numbers by 
smacks on the banks off shore for the Havana, New Orleans, and 
Galveston markets. They can be kept for weeks in the "wells" 
of the fishing smacks without injury. On both the Atlantic and 
Gulf coasts there are extensive fisheries, where, in the season of 
the "run," mullet are taken in vast numbers at the seine-yards. 
Some of the strikes made by the fortunate seine-masters number 
hundreds of barrels. These fish take salt quite as well as the mack- 
erel of the northern waters, and furnish an abundant supply of 
cheap and wholesome food to the inhabitants. 

Along the Gulf coast west of the Suwanee, and especially on the coast 
line of Wakulla and Franklin Counties, the revenue derived from this 
industry is considerable. The proximity of those points to the south- 
ern counties of Alabama and Georgia enables the small farmers of those 
sections to reach the Florida coast in their farm wagons. About the 
first of October, when the "run" of the fish commences, the Georgia 
and Alabama farmer takes his wife and children in his wagon and 
journeys southward. A week of recreation is spent, after the year's 
work, on the beach, where these "up-country" folk enjoy the salt air 
and water, and return home with several barrels of pickled fish to be 
eaten during the winter. Last fall it was estimated that more than 
three hundred Georgia wagons passed through Tallahassee alone, on 
their way to the fisheries. How many fisheries there are on the whole 
coast we are not advised, nor what quantities of fish are shipped to 
points beyond the State, but assuredly it is a growing and paying in- 
dustry. Perhaps no waters abound in fish in greater quantity or of bet- 
ter quality than the waters of the coast of Florida. There was shipped 
from Cedar Keys, in 1880, 1,701,000 pounds of barreled fish, of the 
value of $68,000. Key West Statistics of two years ago, state 
that about one dozen schooners of Key West, aggregating 750 tons, 
were then engaged in the taking of fish for the Havana market. Re- 
cently the catch of several fisheries along the coast have been uti- 
lized in the manufacture of a fish fertilizer, which is taking a high 
place among the farmers and promises to develop into an extensive 
industry. 

Green Turtle may be mentioned as another commodity of the 
Florida coast. In Key West the beef and turtle markets adjoin. 
They are both supplied with about equal regularity, and very many pre- 
fer the turtle to the beef, particularly after the latter has been submit- 
ted to the hardships of a voyage from the mainland. Turtle are 
shipped alive to the Northern markets from Key West, and some- 
times car-loads of them pass over the Florida Transit and West 
India Railroad from Cedar Keys on their way North. One of the 
sports of persons living near the coast is walking the beach in April 
and May, watching for and "turning" the turtle that crawl out 



70 Resources of Florida. 

upon the shore in that season to lay. When they find the tur- 
tle making her nest or laying her eggs, a sufficient number of persons 
lay hold and turn her upon her back. She is then helpless, unable to 
re-turn herself, so as to have the use of her feet. Parties are thus 
supplied with both the turtle and her eggs, and both are prized as 
savory food. 

Oysters are so continuous around the coast that, when the railroad 
and canal system now in course of construction shall have been complet- 
ed, a supply, at short notice, will reach any part of the interior of the 
State in a few hours, at the expense of gathering and shoru freightage. 
Cedar Ki ys has already commenced their shipment, and for all the 
distance tuat ice can make them safe freightage, fresh, canned, and 
in the shell, this commerce is likely to extend. The supply seems in- 
exhaustible. 

Sponge. — The gathering of sponge along the Gulf coast has rapidly 
become an industry of considerable importance. The principal 
sponge reefs lie to the southeastward of, the port of St. Mark's, between 
that point and Cedar Keys. It has been quite impossible to ascertain 
definitely the number of vessels engaged in this business, or the 
value of the aggregated catch. The Statistics already referred to 
give the number of vessels from that port alone engaged in taking 
sponge at 150, and the value of the sponge shipped from that point 
during the past year as amounting to $250,000. Since Cedar Keys, 
St. Mark's, Rio Carabelle, and Apalachicola are also extensively engaged 
in this business, it will be fair to estimate the number of additional 
craft on the reef at three times the above number, and the value of the 
whole amount of sponge taken in the year at a little short, if any, of 
$750,000. Spongers report the growth of these fish on the reef to be 
increasing, and there is reason to expect the business to develop much 
greater proportions. 

FERTILIZERS. 

Phosphatic rocks have been found in Alachua and Clay Counties. 
Some of these rocks from Clay were sent to the office of the Scientific 
A7nerica/i, with the inquiry as to whether they were of such character 
and firmness as suited them for building material. The reply was that 
they would do well for building material, but much better for agricul- 
tural purposes That they contained a large percentage of the phos- 
phate of lime — that which gives to the rock near Charleston, S. C., its 
value as a fertilizer, the mining of which has proved such a bonanza 
since the war. 

Green marl is also found in some of the counties in several portions 
of the State. The green marl of New Jersey, besides the lime, clay, 
and sand of ordinary marl, is said to contain about 4 per cent, of phos 
phoric acid, one of the scarce and yet important elements of plant food. 

Over an extended area embraced between the Wakulla ana St. 
Mark's Rivers, in Wakulla County, and indeed extending far to the west- 
ward of* the former river, there exists a rich deposit of phosphr/ic rock, 



Resources of Florida. 71 

and the soil of the hammocks in which this roclc is found gives evi- 
dences in its forest growth of a fertility surpassed by none in Florida. 
Nowhere could the utilization or manufactory of a commercial ferti- 
lizer be more cheaply and conveniently engaged in than there, on ac- 
count of the transportation facilities enjoyed both by water and rail. 

All over the State are sulphur springs, and an examination may 
find beds of sulphur near the surface worth working. Some prepara- 
tion has already been made for working the lime deposits of Levy 
County. 

SPRINGS. 

Besides innumerable springs of ordinary character and dimensions, 
sources of creeks and streams, as in other countries, Florida possesses a 
feature in spring formation as novel in character as they are surpass- 
ingly beautiful in appearance. 

The bursting of great rivers at one bound from the earth is the re- 
markable feature of some of Florida's fountains. 

Beneath the surface of limestone formation underlying the State 
numerous rivers course toward the sea. In many places no evidences 
of them are observable until they rise to the surface through great 
caverns or fissures in the limestone, often of wonderful depths. Most 
prominent among these is Silver Spring in Marion County, and the 
famous Wakulla Spring in the county of that name, sixteen miles south 
of Tallahassee. Thousands of visitors have seen the Silver Spring, 
upon which steamboats float. The Wakulla, being in a section here- 
tofore less traversed by winter visitors to Florida, is not so familiarly 
known. Both deserve descriptions our space will not admit of. Their 
great size, depth and transparency are their most striking features. 
Lying on the bottom of Wakulla Spring, 180 feet (so reported from 
actual measurement) below the surface, a dime piece can be as dis- 
tinctly seen as through the atmosphere. Indeed, an object is even 
more plainly discernible than at the same distance through the air, as 
the boil of the waters gives them the conformation of a lense, and thus 
they acquire magnifying properties. 

Certainly, no natural object can be more beautiful than the ap- 
pearance of this great fountain, on a clear day, when no wind dis- 
turbs the face of its waters. 

The Blue Spring of Volusia County, in South Florida, a little way 
east from St. John's River, is thus described by a writer : 

" There is a basin 70 feet in diameter and about 40 feet in depth. A 
huge bowl, from the centre of which a column of blue-tinted water 
presses upward with such force that the centre of the surface is convex 
to the extent of perhaps ten inches, and it is impossible to put or keep 
a boat on this summit, such is the force of the hydraulic pressure up- 
ward and laterally. This stream, which this gigantic spring feeds, is 
about 50 feet wide, and an average depth of 10 feet, with a current of 
about five miles an hour. The scenery about this locality is beautiful 
and picturesque in the extreme, and worth a long journey to see." 



7^ Resources of Florida. 

There are many such springs- to be found in different parts of 
Florida. They are all subterranean rivers up to the points where they 
break forth. They all contain lime enough to precipitate any sedi- 
ment or discoloring matter, leaving the water perfectly clear. Fish 
of many sorts and sizes are seen gamboling in their depths or gliding 
about through the waters seeking their food. The ripples on the sur- 
face refract the rays of the sun, when at the proper angle, and give the 
varied colors of the rainbow, and lend a sort of enchantment to the 
view. 

There are also mineral springs in several parts of the State, whose 
waters, as tested in many cases, have curative properties, and 
are the resort of invalids. Of this class are the Newport Springs 
on St. Mark's River, in Wakulla County, the Hampton Springs 
of Taylor, the White Sulphur Springs of Hamilton, the Suwanee 
Springs of Suwanee, and the Green Cove Springs of Clay. 

Persons afflicted with rheumatism, dyspepsia, and diseases of the 
liver have met with very remarkable cures from drinking and bathing 
in the waters of these springs. 



Florida Laitds, 



BY R. C. LONG. 



HOW TO PROCURE THEM. 

UNITED STATES lands still vacant in Florida are subject to 
entry by land warrants, by purchase, and by homestead entry. 
Such lands are to be found in almost every township in the 
State. In the older settlements, where transportation facilities 
have been long enjoyed, and the lands are of good quality, very little, if 
any, vacant land can be found. All inquiries as to United States lands 
should be addressed to L. A. Barnes, Register United States Land 
Office, Gainesville, Florida. 

The State Land Office, with Hon. P. W. White as Commissioner, is 
at Tallahassee. All inquiries as to vacant State lands should be made 
to him. Such a map as is so often asked for, showing the location of 
all vacant land in the State, was never published by any State, and 
would be quite impracticable, since daily entries would require a daily 
revision of the map to make it accurate. Indeed, we would advise in- 
tending purchasers to rely solely on their personal inspection of land 
in selecting locations. First find a piece of land that suits you, then 
ascertain to whom it belongs, and, whether public or private land, 
secure it by purchase. The State lands are to be found scattered 
everywhere. Like the United States lands, few State lands of any 
value or desirable quality are left in sections of the country where land 
is good, settlements old, and agriculture has been pursued for any 
length of time. 

School lands and Seminary lands are subject to entry at their ap- 
praised value, not less than $1.25 per acre. A large portion of these 
lands is held at $1.25 per acre, but some tracts are valued as high as 
$7. Payment may be made in United States currency or State scrip. 

Internal I/nprovetnent lafids are generally $1.25 per acre, none less; 
some as high as $6.50 per acre. 

Swamp lands — for forty acres — $1 per acre ; for more than forty and 
not exceeding eighty acres, 90 cents per acre ; for more than eighty 
and not exceeding two hundred acres. So cents per acre ; for more 
than 200 and not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, 75 cents per 
acre ; for more than six hundred and forty acres, 70 cents per acre. 

In case of entries of land at less than $1 per acre, the land must not 
be in detached pieces, but must lie in a body. 

73 



74 



Hoiv to Procw'c Laud in Florida. 



For Internal Improvement and Swamp lands nothing is receivable 
in payment except United States currency. 

Terms of sale in all cases cash. 

Lands cannot be reserved from sale for the benefit of any applicant. 
An application not accompanied with the full amount of purchase 
money does not give any priority. 

But by act of March 7, 1881, " actual settlers upon any of the public 
lands of this State may enter the lands upon which they reside or have 
in cultivation, not to exceed 160 acres, to be taken in compact form 
according to th'i legal subdivisions, at the prices now or hereafter to be 
established for such lands, by paying one-third the purchase money at 
the time of the entry, one-third of the same within two years thereafter, 
and the remaining one-third within three years after the date of entry." 

By act of i6thof February, 1872, the right of homestead is given on 
the overflowed and swamp lands, as follows : 

"■ Section 6. Any person who is the head of a family, or who has 
arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United 
States, or who shall have filed his declaration of an intention to be- 
come such, as required by the laws of the United States, shall, from 
and after the first day of April, be entitled to enter one-quarter sec- 
tion, or a less quantity, of the unsold swamp and overflowed lands 
granted to the State of Florida by act Congress, approved 28th day of 
September 1850. Any person owning or residing on land may, 
under the provisions of sections six to thirteen of this chapter, enter 
other lands contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with 
the lands so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate t6o 
acres. 

'' Section 7. The person applying for the benefit of section six 
shall file with the Commissioner of Lands his or her affidavit that he or 
she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, and 
that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, 
and that the said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement 
and cultivation, and not directly or indirectly for the use and benefit 
of any other person or persons whatsoever, and upon filing said 
affidavit with the Commissioner of Lands, and upon payment of ten 
dollars where the entry is more than eighty acres, and of five dollars 
where the entry is not of more than eighty acres, he or she shall there- 
upon be permitted to enter the amount of land specified. Provided, 
however^ that no deed shall issue therefor until the expiration of five 
years from the date of such entry ; and if at the expiration of such 
time, or any time within two years thereafter, the person making such 
entry, or, if he be dead, his widow, or, in case of her death, his heirs or 
devisees, or, in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or de- 
visees, in case of her death, sliall prove by two credible witnesses that 
he, she, or they have reclaimed said lands by means of levees and 
drains, and resided upon and cultivated the same for the term of five 
years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit afore- 
said, and shall maice affidavit that no part of said land has been alien- 
ated ; then, in such case, he. she, or thev shall be entitled to a deed." 



Florida Lands. 75 

THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 

As to what lands are best to purchase and as to the relative merits of 
pine and hammock lands, there is a theory that we are disposed to en- 
tertain with regard to why the greater portion of the State of Florida 
is covered with pine-trees, which are evergreen, instead of deciduous, 
and other hard-wood trees, the growth of which upon land in Florida 
causes it to be distinguished as "hammock," a distinction, so far as 
the original character of the soil is concerned, without a difference. 

From various causes, frequently from lightning, often from care- 
lessness and accident, and sometimes purposely by the owners of 
cattle, the wild lands of Florida are annually burned over. 

The stock-men resort to this means of getting rid of the tough, dry 
grass stems in early spring, and inducing a fresh and tender growth of 
grass for their half-starved cattle that have wintered on dhnate and 
wire-grass in the open woods; but it is also true that the same practice 
was resorted to by the former Indian inhabitants, whose object was to 
furnish tender picking for the herds of deer, to induce these animals to 
leave the swamps and resort to the dry country. 

The pine-tree is propagated from seeds that fall from the cones 
late in the autumn. The seeds are provided with thin membranous 
wings, upon which they are blown by the winds and distributed over 
the land. The winter rains plant them. Early in the spring the 
young pine appears as a green spike that shoots up six or eight inches 
before its leaves begin to spread, after which it grows rapidly for eight 
or nine months. The green leaves of this young tree are practically 
non-combustible, and the only bud it bears is in the top of the tall 
stalk and thoroughly enveloped in a green coating. 

When it is about ten or eleven months old, the annual wood-burning 
takes place. Fire sweeps over the face of the pine region ; every sprig of 
grass, every weed, and every deciduous shrub and tree that has sprung 
up since the last annual burn, is destroyed. All the hard-wood growths 
have their eyes or buds distributed regularly along the stalks and stems, 
entirely unprotected from the fire, and as the growth of all plants of 
this character is slow in its early stages as compared with those of the 
pine, none gets far enough advanced in the twelvemonth to rise above 
the flames; and so they perish, while the young pine escapes with a se- 
vere scorching, which the bud survives. Thus, upon the principle of 
the survival of the fittest, the pine becomes master of the situation and 
sole proprietor of the wood land. But natural and artificial barriers are 
often offered to the progress of these forest burns. 

Natural impediments 'consist of gullies, creeks, rivers, or ponds, 
across which the fire does not cross when traveling before some pre- 
vailing wind. If the rainy season, which comes in the winter before 
the usual burnings begin, has been an exceptionally wet one, all de- 
pressed places become filled with water. These flats sometimes extend 
considerable distances in irregular courses. Imagine the woods on 
fire, and the flames traveling slowly along the surface toward the 
south-west before a gentle north-east wind, destroying every vestige 



^6 Florida Lands. 

of vegetation not too much grown^o be within its reach. Suddenly it 
encounters a slight depression in the surface of the land, where stands 
an inch or two of rain-water. This depression reaches perhaps in an 
irregular course for miles either way. it of course puts an end to the 
"bu'rn." On the opposite side of this wet depression the little oaks, 
hickories, magnolias, and bays, that have put up since the last burn, are 
not swept away this year, but get another year's growth. This first 
season's escape is enough to give these deciduous trees a foothold, 
and enable them to rear their heads high enough to escape complete 
destruction, even should no -protecting water interpose the second 
year. 

Here, then, we have an incipient hanunock, making its beginning on 
sandy "piney woods" land, in no particular different from, or better 
than, that over which the fire has swept, and which remains pine 
land. 

In a very few years, in this semi-tropical climate, this young 
orchard of hard-wood bushes has become a pronounced hammock of 
spreading shade-trees, whose shadows protect the originally poor and 
sandy soil from the summer's sun, and whose annual crop of castaway 
foliage tends year after year to add mould to the ground, which, under 
these two powerful fertilizing agencies, gradually changes from the 
original white sand to a dark, often black, loamy soil, as fertile as fertile 
can be. It is no uncommon thing lo find such parcels of land in South 
Florida of wonderful fertility, possessing an upper soil of partially de 
composed leaf mould several feet deep. 

'rhese hammocks command high prices. They are esteemed so 
much more fertile and desirable than adjacent pine lands, and the 
comparative growth of orange-trees while young is so obviously in 
favor of the hammock land, that the uninitiated are readily induced to 
appreciate the greater value attached to hammock land. 

Now we would offer a word or two of friendly caution on this head 
to new settlers in South Florida — or, indeed, in any part of Florida 
where the soil is sandy — especially to poor men, whose supply of ready 
money is more or less precarious. We say be cautious how you give it 
away in double, triple, and quadruple prices for a tract of hammock 
land when a fair piece of pine land can be had at very much lower 
prices. 

Remember three things, viz. : 

ist. That the most troublesome and expensive process that a settler 
in the woods has to encounter is the felling of trees and clearing of 
land. 

2d, That in Florida it costs from two to ten times as much to clear 
an acre of hammock land as it does to prepare an acre of pine land ; 
and 

3d. Bear in mind that twenty, thirty, or fifty years ago these ham- 
mocks were identically like the present pine woods ; that any potash, 
phosphates, or nitrogenous matter they may now contain in excess of 
the adjacent pine land is entirely owing to the annual supply of foliage 
deposited and the moisture engendered by the shade ; and that from 



Floj'ida Lands. 'J'J 

the moment you cut the first bush you are removing tJic only source of 
supply of these essential elements. Remember that the processes of 
decomposition of vegetable matter are rapid; that so soon as the supply 
of humus is exhausted in this costly hammock land, it will resolve itself 
into its original condition, and about the fourth or sixth year of culti- 
vation will become a tolerably fair quality of sandy land, not a bit better 
than the pine lands proper. 

Calculate what advantage the man, paying fancy figures for a piece 
of hammock, and exorbitant prices to get it cleared, and then exhaust- 
ing it in a few years, has over a more frugal person who saves his cash 
by buying pine land, costing little to clear, and building it up in a few 
years by judicious cultivation, and the turning under of fertilizing 
crops. 

There is no question that the making of an orange grove on ham- 
mock land is attended with much more satisfactory appearances and 
results during the first few years; but before purchasing land, let the 
prudent immigrant take a careful look at two old groves — one on one- 
dollar-and-a-quarter pine land (or lands worth $5 to $10 per acre at 
most, if purchased from individuals), and the other on quondam ham- 
mock land, that cost the owner probably $50 to $100 per acre, and if 
he can see a sufficient difference in the character of the trees and fruit 
of the latter over the former to justify the great difference in cost, he 
will be able to do more than we can after twenty years of observa- 
tion. 

A good point for an immigrant to make a note of is the fact that 
in the majority of cases the difference between the original cost of pur- 
chase and clearing pine lands in Florida, and hammock lands, if judi- 
ciously expended in suitable fertilizers and tillage, will make of the for- 
mer better land than the latter. 

What is said above with regard to the comparative merits of ham- 
mock and pine lands relates only to hammocks occurring in sandy 
regions, and not to such as stand on clay soil, of which latter very 
extensive areas occur in some parts of the State. In South Florida 
the County of Hernando can boast as excellent clay hammock lands as 
are to be found in the South. Indeed, but for the fact that it was only 
just before the beginning of the late civil war that this part of Florida 
was relieved from the dangers of Indian hostilities, Hernando County 
would have developed under the old slave system, as did Marion, Ala- 
chua, and the red clay lands of Middle Florida. So that a statement 
heretofore made, to the effect that the presence of negroes in numbers 
among the population of a county is a certain indication of the suit- 
ableness of such place to agricultural purposes, and their absence is to 
be taken as evidence of unfitness for such ends, does not apply to Her- 
nando. 

These red clay lands are good, and when a settler is asked to pay 
his money liberally for such property, he need not hesitate to do so, for 
in them he will find a heritage for his children. They are not " good 
just a little bit on top," like a sugared cake, but are good all the way 
through, and when the leaf mould and black top soil is all worn away 



78 Florida Lands. 

forty years after being cleared and cultivated, the raw clay that remains 
will make profitable crops of anything, and that without fertilizing. 

The word " hammock" is made too general a use of by land-men in 
dealing with new-comers to Florida. There are many grades of ham- 
mock land in Florida. 

The only two that we think possess such real superiority as to justify 
paying more money for them than for good pine land — especially if the 
latter has a clay subsoil — are the red clay and hilly areas of some of 
the counties in Middle Florida, or the splendid belt of hammock of like 
character in Flernando, and the black soil s/iell hammocks to be found 
in many parts of the State, and especially in several of the counties of 
South Florida. The strength and heart of these lands was put 
into them long before any of the tree growth now covering them was 
in existence. There is a wealth of fertility in them that never wears 
out, and the capabilities, of these lands is simply wonderful. 
They are scarce and high-priced, and if the Government of the 
United States, or the State, still own any subject to entry, which we 
question, it is somewhere in'Soutli Florida, probably among the Inter- 
nal Improvement lands proper, belonging to the State, some of which 
are yet to be had in Hernando and Polk Counties. 

There is another character of haamiock land to be found along- 
some of the rivers of South Florida, a familiar sample of which is the 
old Gamble hammock, near the town of Manatee, in Manatee County. 

This i.s not red clay, nor yet the shell and black earth that distin- 
guishes the shell hammocks proper, and is utterly unlike the leaf mould 
that overlies the hidden sand of the character of hammock we first 
described as being the result of the exclusion of fire in the pine 
woods. 

The character of the soil is rather more like the black bottom lands 
of some of the Western rivers. It contains sand, will scour a plough, 
it is deep, black, and underlaid with shell and marl. Often coral and 
bones of the manatee are interspersed in it But one objection can 
ever be urged to hammock of this character, and that is, that they fre- 
quently lie low, and are adjacent to streams that keep them wet, so that 
drainage is often difficult and always expensive. 



State Goveriifnent, 



1^ HE powers of the government of the State of Florida, like those 
of the sister States, are divided into the three departments of 
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. 
Legislative power, vested in Senate and Assembly, is designated 
the Legislature of the State of Florida. The Legislature meets on the 
first Tuesday after the first Monday in January, every two years, and 
may hold its sessions not longer than sixty days. 

The members of the Assembly are chosen biennially on the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Senators are chosen 
for the term of four years at the same time and places as members of 
the Assembly, in such way that one-half of the whole number are 
elected biennially. 

The Legislature fixes the ratio of representation, but the Constitu- 
tion provides that each county shall have at least one representative, 
and one additionally for every one thousand registered voters; but no 
county shall have more than four. The Legislature also fixes the 
number of Senators, which, however, under the Constitution, shall 
never be less than one-fourth nor more than one-half of the whole 
number of the Assembly. At present the number of Assemblymen is 
104, and the number of Senators 32. The pay of members of the 
Legislature is a/^r diem fixed by law for each day's actual attendance, 
and in addition thereto 10 cents mileage. 

The Executive power is vested in a Governor, who is elected for 
four years. To be eligible, he must have been for nine years a citizen 
of the United States and three years a citizen of Florida. 

A Lieutenant-Governor is elected at the same time and places as 
the Governor, and is President of the Senate, but has only a casting 
vote. He becomes Acting-Governor upon the removal from office by 
death, inability, or resignation of the Governor. 

The Governor has a Cabinet of Administrative officers, consisting 
of Secretary of State, Attorney-General, Comptroller, Treasurer, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Adjutant-General, and Com- 
missioner of Lands They are appointed by the Governor and con- 
firmed by the Senate. 

The Judicial powers of the State are vested in a Supreme Court, 
Circuit Courts, County Courts, and Justices of the Peace. 

The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and two Associate 
Justices. They are appointed by the Governor and confirmed, by the 



8o State Government. 

Senate, and hold their offices for life or during good behavior. The 
Supreme Court appoints its own Cleric. 

There are, as the Constitution requires, seven Circuit Judges, ap- 
pointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, who hold their 
offices for eight years. 

The Executive appoints a County Judge for each county, who is 
confirmed by the Senate, and holds his office for four years. 

The Governor appoints as many Justices of the Peace as he may 
deem necessary, who hold office for four years, but are subject to re- 
moval by the Governor for reasons satisfactory to him. 

The Governor, by and with the consent of the Senate, appoints in 
each county a Sheriff and CJerk of the Circuit Court, who is also Clerk 
of the County Court and of the Board of County Commissioners, 
Recorder, and cx-ofiico Auditor of the county. He holds his office for 
four years. 

The Governor appoints, by and with the consent of the Senate, in 
each county an Assessor of Taxes and Collector of Revenue, who hold 
©ffice for two years, subject to removal upon recommendation of the 
Governor and consent of the Senate. 

The Governor appoints in each county a County Treasurer, County 
Surveyor, Superintendent of Common Schools, and five County Com- 
missioners, each of whom shall hold his office for two years, and is 
subject to removal by the Governor when, in his judgment, the public 
good will benefit thereby. 

A Constable may be elected by the registered voters of each county 
— one Constable for every two hundred voters ; but under the Consti- 
tution every county is entitled to at least two, and no county shall have 
more than twelve. 

The salary of the Governor is $3,500 ; that of the Justices of the 
Supreme Court, each, $3,000 ; that of the several Judges of the Circuit 
Court, $2,500. 

Every male person of the age of 21 years, and of whatever race, 
color, nationality, or previous condition, who shall, at the time of offer- 
ing to vote, be a citizen of the United States, or who shall have resid- 
ed or had his habitation, domicile, home, and place of permanent 
abode in Florida for one year, and in the county for six months next 
preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote, shall, in each 
county, be deemed a qualified elector. 

Every elector shall, at the time of his registration, take and sub- 
scribe the following oath : " I, , do solemn iv swear that I 

will support the Constitution and Government of the United States, 
and Constitution and Government of the State of Florida, against all 
enemies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith, loyalty, and 
allegiance to the same, any ordinances or resolutions of any^State Con- 
vention or Legislature to the contrary notwithstanding. So help me 
God." 

Disfranchisement results from the conviction of bribery, perjury, 
larceny, or other infamous crime, or for being directly or indirectly in- 
terested in any bet or wager, the result of which shall depend upon 



State Government. 8 1 

any election or for being principal or second in a duel, or shall send 
or accept or be the bearer of a challenge or acceptance to fight a duel. 

The Constitution provides that institutions for the insane, blind, and 
deaf, and such other benevolent institutions as the public good may 
require shall be fostered by the State. 

An asylum for the insane has been founded, where the idiotic are 
also received. This institution is located upon a high hill on the 
eastern side of the Apalachicola River in Gadsden County. A part of 
the buildings erected originally by the United States Government 
for an arsenal, and subsequently turned over to the State, and then 
fitted by erection of new buildings and proper alterations for present 
uses. The inmates are comfortably provided for. The males and 
females of both colors have compartments for themselves, and in 
these their separate rooms There is connected with the asylum about 
1, 800 acres of land for such uses as the institution may have for it. 

A State Deaf and Dumb and Blind Asylum was chartered by the 
last Legislature: 

The policy adopted by the State of Florida in the care of convicts 
for penal crime is to lease them for terms to contractors, who employ 
them upon railroad construction or in other ways, instead of confining 
them within the walls of a State Prison. 

E:<perience has demonstrated that the plan of hiring the convicts to 
labor in the open air is both humane and healthful, and more agreeable 
to the prisoners themselves than close confinement. It is, moreover, 
less expensive to the State. They are hired out at present at $15 each 
per annum, with such obligations to provide for their safe keeping as 
are deemed necessary. 

The pooulation of Florida, under the census returns of 1880, was 
269,493. The increase in population in Florida during the decade 
from 1870 to 1880 was something over 30 per cent., and for the years 
1879 and 1880 there was an increase at the rate of 60 per cent. As 
this tide of immigration has been largely increased during the last 
four years, it is fair to estimate that the annual rate of increase in her 
population is now not far from 20 per cent., or that at present it is about 
500 000. 

The vote of the State in the general election of t88o was : Demo- 
cratic, 28,000; Republican. 23,000 —total. 51,000. 



The P^cblic Schools of Florida. 



H. "N. FELKKL. 



THE present educational system of Florida was provided fur in the 
Constitution adopted in 1868, and the first schools were put in 
operation under it during the schi^lastic year of 1S69-70. The 
system does not differ essentially froni those in operation in the 
States of New England and the West. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the head of the depart- 
ment, and is one of the seven cabinet officers and constitutional advisers 
of the Governor. He is also the President of the Board of Education, 
before whom come all questions of appeal from the counties. Each, 
county, under the law, is constituted a school district. The county or 
district school officers are, a County Superintendent, a Board of Public 
Instruction, and local School Trustees. The County Superintendent 
is the Secretary and Executive Officer of the Board. It is his duty to 
visit the schools at least once during each three months when the 
schools are in session, to organize and conduct teachers' institutes, and 
to look after the general welfare of the schools. The Board of Public 
Instruction have the management and disposition of the school finances 
of the county. It is also their duty to locate the schools and to ap- 
point the local trustees. 

The revenue for the support of the schools of the State is derived 
from the following sources : (i) The interest on the Common School 
Fund ; (2) the Constitutional Tax ; (3) County Taxes. The Common 
School Fund is that fund which has accrued from the sales of school 
lands— the sixteenth sections granted by the General Government — 
and from fines and forfeitures. This fund is invested for the most 
part in the bonds of the State of Florida, and gives an annual interest 
of about $1 8,00c. This amount is apportioned, each year, among the 
several counties, on the basis of the school population The Constitu- 
tional Tax is a tax of one mill on the assessed property valuation of the 
State, and the Superintendent is required to appoi'tion it in the same 
manner and on the same basis as the interest on the Common School 
Fund is apportioned. The County Taxes are provided for by statute. 
They are levied by the County Commissioners, the rate being not 
less than two and a half and not more than four mills. In the wealthier 
and more populous counties, the school revenue, arising from the 
sources named, is ample, and good schools are maintained from six to 
ten months of the year. In others, more sparsely settled, where the 
taxable resources are limited, the revenue has not been sufficient to 
continue the schools for longer than three months of the year, but the 



The Public Schools of Florida. 83 

tide of iiiiinigration pouring into the State will, in a short time, so 
swell the property valuation as to give ample funds for all purposes. 

The following statistics are given to show the growth of the public 
schools since 1876: 

1876 — Total number of schools, 656 ; attendance, ci,coo. 
1877 — Total number of schools, SS7 ; attendance, 31,133. 
1878 — Total number of schools, 992 ; attendance, 36,961. 
1879 — Total number of schools, 1,050 ; attendance, 37,034. 
1880 — Total number of schools, 1,131 ; attendance, 39,315. 
i88j — Total number of schools, 1,239 ! attendance, 51,945. 

It will be seen, from the foregoing ligures, that during the past six 
years the schools of the State have averaged an increase of nearly one 
hundred per annum. Public sentiment, which, in the beginning, was 
antagonistic or indifferent to the free schools, is now fully alive to the 
importance of this interest, and the progress made in the past may be 
taken as an earnest of what may be expected in the future. 

As to ti.; quality of instruction in the public schools of Florida, it 
may be stated that, in this respect, they will compare favorably with 
those of the older States. 'I'he high schools and academies in most 
of the towns and villages arc provided with competent teachers, many 
of whom were graduated from the leading colleges of the country, so- 
that there is scarcely a section of the vState where a young man may 
not leave his own county prepared to enter college. 

Among the leading institutions devoted to higher education are 
the East and the West Florida Seminaries, the one located at Gainsville, 
the other at Tallahassee. These schools have an annual endowment 
arising from a fund accruing to the State from what are known as " Semi- 
nary Lands." The institutions are both in a very flourishing condition, 
and each year adds to their influence and efficiency. They are regularly 
chartered, and have authority to grant diplomas and confer degrees. 

One of the great needs of the public schools of Florida has been 
that of better qualified teachers for the smaller country schools. This 
need, however, is now being met by the organization of normal schools, 
and teachers' institutes. The last Legislature appropriated three 
thousand dollars for 1883, and the •same amount for 18S4, for normal 
instruction, to be applied in connection with four of the leading 
schools of the State two for white teachers and two for colored. 
The schools have been set to work in the manner indicated by the 
law, and their efforts can but result in giving to the schools more 
thorough and efficient teachers. There was also made an appropria- 
tion of two thousand dollars, to be used in holding teachers' institutes 
in different sections of the State. 

The Florida State Agricultural College, which is located at Lake City,, 
was opened for the first time in October of 1884. At present only the 
western wing of what is to be a handsome and commodious building, 
when it is finished, is occupied. Farm buildings, propagating houses,, 
conservatories, etc., will be added from lime to time as they are demanded 
by the course of instruction. 



Traveler s Cniide to Florida, 



BY KIRK MUNROE. 



HINTS TO TOURISTS AND INVALIDS. 

T is no wonder that the traveler contemplating a winter trip to Florida 
becomes confused and undecided as to when, wliere, and how he shall 
go, and what he shall take with him, as soon as he endeavors to ac- 
quire information from those who have been there and pretend to 
'know all about it. Probably no State in the Union is at once subjected to 
such exaggerated praise and unqualified condemnation. From one friend 
he will learn that winters in Florida are invariably warm arid dry ; and 
from the next that they are always cold and wet. One will advise him to 
take only summer clothing ; and the other will insist that he will need the 
same warm garments that he would in the North. He will be told that 
•outside of Jacksonville he will get nothing fit to eat, and that good 
hotels exist everywhere ; that St. Augustine is the only place in which 
to spend the winter, and that it will be as much as his life is worth to 
face the raw east winds of St. Augustine. The west coast and the 
east coast will be represented in glowing and dismal colors ; the St. 
John's vwll, in a breath, be pronounced the most glorious river in the 
world, and the most monotonous and uninteresting. He will hear that 
the State is one vast swamp, and that it is nothing but a dr}-, sandy, 
pine barren, that good lands do not exist ; and that Florida contains 
the finest farming lands in the South. Flis friend A. will beg of him not 
to visit a country where every breath is malarious, where fevers taint 
every breeze, and where poisonofls reptiles and insects infest every 
locality that can be named ; and the next day B. will take his oath that 
he never heard of a case of malaria or fever in Florida that was not 
imported, and that the poisonous reptiles and insects are but the ofi"- 
spring of A.'s too vivid imagination. The climax will be capped when 
he hears that the Floridians hate Northerners with a deadly hatred, and 
make use of every opportunity for insulting them ; and is told directly 
afterward by his neighbor over the way that Floridians are the most 
courteous and hospitable of people, and welcome Northerners with an 
overpowering cordiality. 

Having gathered this various and somewhat contradictory infor- 
mation, the traveler either decides to go somewhere else, or turns 
toward Florida with his mind filled with a confusion of eager antici- 
pation and apprehensive dread, neither of which is destined to be 



Traveler s Guide — Hints to Tourists a?id Invalids. 85 

realized. He who goes to Florida prepared to make the best of every- 
thing, and to extract as much pleasure as possible from his trip, will 
enjoy himself and have a good time ; while he who is prepared to find 
fault with whatever fails to meet his anticipations, will be corre- 
spondingly miserable. 

All things taken into consideration, Florida is no better and no worse 
than the other States of the Union, over which she can claim absolute 
superiority in but one thing — her winter climate. This is what makes 
Florida ; it is everything to the State, and so fully do its inhabitants 
realize the fact, that, from the moment the visitor sets foot within her 
borders until he leaves them, he is daily and hourly reminded that this 
wonderful climate was invented and prepared, and is now owned and 
controlled, by the Floridians themselves. The salutation with which 
each and every inhabitant greets the stranger is, " Well, sir, what do you 
think of our climate ?" And woe be unto him if he is not prepared to 
admit, without hesitation, that it is undoubtedly the most v/onderful 
climate in thisworld or any other, and that it reflects great credit upon 
its proprietors. 

After having listened to innumerable panegyrics on the climature, 
and mastered the contents of the various publications on the meteor- 
ography of Florida, the visitor may, in his turn, gradually assume the 
air of climatic proprietorship, and even venture to propound to more 
recent arrivals the invariable meteorological conundrum. 

It has been noticed that this proprietary attitude toward the climate 
is more apt to be assumed by imported than by native Floridians ; and 
that the more recent the importation the more vivid is the impression 
that he is one of the authors and promoters of the grand climato- 
logical scheme. 

On the whole, it is a very good climate, and to the traveler recently 
escaped from the rigors of a Northern winter it is glorious, and he is 
disposed to admit all the excellence that is claimed for it. At the same 
time it is a capricious climate, and subject to sudden changes which he 
must be prepared to encounter. The weather of three winters ago was 
charming throughout the entire Florida season, being warm and dry from 
November to May. Winter before last was very wet, and in the northern 
part of the State rain fell nearly every day through December and January. 
Last winter was decidedly cold until the ist of February ; but even during 
this cold spell there was no trace of snow, and but very little ice, though 
frosts were almost of nightly occurrence. Occasionally the sun would shine 
with a welcome heat, the warm south wind would blow, and for a few days 
the air was that of summer ; then, perhaps, a " Norther" would set in, and 
in a few hours the temperature would be lowered 20 or 30 degrees. 

In view of these changes, it is not safe to visit Florida in winter 
without being provided with both winter and summer clothing, and 
being prepared to change from one to the other two or three times a 
day if necessary. Light flannels should be worn throughout the season, 
and the traveler who leaves his heavy overcoat, or her warm wrap, 
behind, when setting out for the " Flov;ery land," will have cause to 
regret them. A heavy overcoat is a necessity on the steamer while en 



S>6 Traveler s Guide — Hints I'o Tourists and Invalids. 

route for Florida, it will often be found very comfortable while there, 
and it will form a most important addition to the wardrobe of him who 
returns to the North by sea in the spring. Passengers leaving Savan- 
nah al)out noon, of a day between the first and the middle of May, fancy 
that they can never feel cool and comfortable again, and that overcoats 
might as well be stowed away in trunks down in the lower hold ; 
but when, a few days afterward, they reach New York or Boston, 
possibly in the small hours of the morning, and find the temperature 
away down almost to the freezing-point, as frequently happens, they 
would give a great deal for the now inaccessible overcoats or heavy 
wraps. It is well therefore always to have these within reach, from the 
time of departure for the South until you return. 

To those travelers who go South in search of health a few words of 
advice may not come amiss. In the first place, do not wait until it is 
too late for any earthly agency to help you before trying the climate of 
Florida. It will not cure the man who stands with one foot already in 
the grave, though it may prolong his days ; but if sought when the first 
symptoms of disease are discovered, it will work miracles. 

In the second place, be sure to stay long enough in Florida. Do 
not imagine that, because summer heats prevail there in April and 
May, it is time for you to return to the North. It will be as much as 
your life is worth to do so before the first of June, and if you can wait 
until the middle of that month, so much the better. 

Go early and stay late. Leave the chilly North some time in November; 
and, if you can arrange to do so comfortably, travel south slowly. Spend 
a few days in Washington, or at that most charming of seaside resorts, the 
Hygeia, at Old Point Comfort, rest for a week each in Charleston and 
Savannah, and reach Florida early in December. 

If you reach Florida in October, or even early in November, you 
will be very apt to get a touch of the Dengue, which is not dangerous, but 
is a very uncomfortable kind of a fever. 

Do not imagine, because you have crossed the Florida line, that you 
are in the tropics and may safely defy the coldly insinuating breath of 
winter. Florida is nearly 400 miles long from north to south, and be- 
tween Fernandina and Key West many varieties of weather may be found. 
The invalid should not think of spending the time from the middle 
of December to the middle of February north of a line drawn across the 
middle of the Stale ; and at the same time he should seek the most com- 
fortable quarters. Unfortunately, the further South he goes, the poorer will 
he find the accommodations. On the Gulf coast there is a good hotel at 
Palma Sola, another at Tarpon Springs, kept by Mr. and Mrs. Alfred 
Jones, who have, in years gone by, made the Homosassa famous for its 
good hving, and several indifferently well kept houses in Tampa. Going 
inland, the Tropical House, at Kissimmee City, will prove a pleasant sur- 
prise to the tired traveler, and he will find an equally good hotel equally 
well kept at Winter Park. The Sanford House, at Sanford, and the 
Brock House, at Enterprise, are too well known to require praise, and, 
with one exception, these are the most southerly of the good hotels in 
which an invalid can be made comfortable. The exception is the Cocoanut 



Travelers Gtiide— Hints to Tourists and Invalids. 87 

Grove House, away down on Lake Worth, on the south-east coast, in the 
latitude of the Bahama Islands. The finest and best kept hotel on the 
east coast, south of St. Augustine, is the Atlantic House, at Oak Hill, on 
the Hillsborough River. The cuisine of this house is most admirable, 
and its game dinners are of a character to delight the heart of an epicure. 

In February it is safe to travel slowly towards the northern part of the State, 
keeping pace with the delicate feathery green that at this season begins 
to fringe the cypresses along the St. Johns. This northern part of 
Florida, which was once a synonym among travelers for all that was rude, 
rough, coarse and uncomfortable, is now blessed with a dozen or more of 
the finest hotels in the South. In Palatka was the exquisitely kept and 
home-tike Putnam House, endeared to many a tourist's heart. It had 
been largely added to, and was almost ready for the reception of its win- 
ter guests, when late in the autumn of 18S4 it was destroyed by a disas- 
trous fire that swept away most of the business portion of the city. Only 
two of the smaller hotels v.ere spared, and the accommodations for visit- 
ors during that winter were very limited. Now, the new Putnam has 
arisen on its site. It is a fine building, larger and handsomer than the 
old one ; but it is not managed by the Orvises, who did so much for the 
popularity of the old Putnam. 

At Magnolia, 28 miles from Jacksonville, is the Magnolia House, 
which, with the new San Marco, at St. Augustine, is under the management 
of Mr. O. D. Seavey, of the Maplewood, at Bethlehem, New Hampshire. 
They are, beyond a question, the finest hotels in the State, and would do 
credit to the most fashionable Northern resort. 

In Jacksonville of course are fine hotels, but none of them compares in 
comfort with the Windsor or sets so good a table. It is managed by the 
Orvises, who are so pleasantly identified with the Equinox, at Manchester, 
' Vermont, the only first-class hotel in the Green Mountains, and with the late 
lamented Putnam, of Palatka. The Everett Hotel, in Jacksonville, is also 
a first-class house, and enjoys the advantages of being the nearest one to 
the principal railway stations and steamboat wharves, as well as of offering 
a magnificent view up and down the river. For persons of more moderate 
means, the St. Marks, at $2.50 per day, offers a most satisfactory resting 
place. If you want to go fishing or duck shooting, ask Mr. Fred. Foster, 
the proprietor of the St. Marks, where to go, and if you would have good 
luck, follow his advice implicitly. 

The Egmont, at Fernandina, is another charming hotel, and he who is 
not satisfied with its accommodations could not be pleased with the best 
that New York has to offer. In I'allahassee, the most beautiful spot in 
Florida in which to spend the weeks from the first of March to the middle 
of May, is the new Leon Hotel, under the S9,me management as the 
Everett, in Jacksonville, and the Sanford House, at Sanford. 

But this chapter on hotels must be brought to a close. At each one of 
those mentioned in the foregoing list the visitor will be satisfactorily and, 
in many of them, luxuriously entertained. They are the best in Florida. 
Besides these, large and well kept hotels are to be found in De Land, 
Green Cove Springs, Orlando, Ocala, Gainesville, Eustis, Monticello and 
Pensacola. A pleasant hotel, the Hernando, was opened last winter in 
Brooksville. Probably no place in the State feels the lack of good hotel 



88 Traveler s Guide —Hints to Tourists and Invalids. 

accommodations so greatly as Leesburg, in Sumter County. Good and 
cheap boarding houses exist in nearfy every city and town of any import- 
ance in the State, but they have to be searched for very careiuliy, and, 
when found, made note of". 

If the invalid is possessed of sufficent strength, and would reap the 
fall benefit of the glorious Floridian climate, let him eschew hotels and 
cruise down the Indian River or along the Gulf Coast, traveling leisurely, 
bathing in hot sunshine and filling his lungs with salt air. If he prefers 
the land to the water, let him travel in a light wagon or on horseback 
through the vast pine woods and across the inland highlands of the Slate, 
visit the lake region of Orange County, the elevated hills of Sumter, 
the magnificent hammocks of Hernando, or hunt cattle with the cow boys 
of South Florida. In fact, let him spend the winter in the open air and 
engaged in active exercise. No better prescription than this could be written 
by the foremost physician of the world, and, if it is followed carefully, the 
most beneficial results are guaranteed. 

A valuable hint to invalids and to all other travelers as well, which 
applies to all parts of Florida, is to carefully avoid exposure to the heavy 
night dews, and keep under cover as much as possible between the hours of 
sunset and sunrise. 

ROUTES AND PLACES. 

The quickest and most direct way of reaching Florida is by the all-rail 
'* Waycross Route,'' which maybe recognized wherever it is seen advertised 
by the sign of the polar bear and the alligator shaking hands. The " Way- 
cross Route" means the splendid Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, 
the best built and best managed road in the South. Its line extends from 
Charleston, S. C, to Jacksonville, Florida, and west to direct connections 
with New Orleans. Over it Pullman buffet cars are run into Jacksonville 
from all the principal cities in the North. It is the fast mail route, by 
which the distance from New York to Jacksonville is covered inside of 
thirty-six (36) hours, and papers printed in New York one morning are 
read in Florida on the aternoon of the next day. Nothing in the whole 
range of travel is more marvelous than the climatic change experienced by 
him who on a bleak winter's day steps aboard the train in a Northern city, 
and, traveling via the " Waycross,'' finds himself on the following day amid 
the orange groves and warmth of Florida. 

If the traveler is willing to spend two days' more time on his journey, 
and wishes to trv a sea voyage, the fine steamers of the Ocean Steamship 
Company leave New York three times every week for Savannah, where, on 
the wharf, the trains of the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway await their 
coming, and in six hours' more time Jacksonville, 166 miles away, is 
reached. It is well, however, not to hurry away from this citv, for it is 
full of interest, and well repays a visit. It is unfortunate in i^s leading 
hotels, which fall far short of what they should be ; but this fault is more 
than condoned by the numerous attractions that it does offer. 

Savannah is a typical Southern city, and is remarkable for the 
number of its open public squares oi- parks, of which there are twenty-four 



Travelers Guide — Routes and Places. 89 

within its limits. A peculiar charm is lent to them by the numbers of 
Southern shade trees with which they are ornamented. Of course everj'body 
visits Bonaventure, which, with its giant moss-draped live-oaks, is the most 
weirdly beautiful cemetery in the South. It may be reached by a four- 
mile drive over a capital shell road, or by the horse cars of the Coast Line 
Railway. These cars also run to Thunderbolt, a quaint resort on a salt 
water river, a mile beyond Bonaventure, famous for its fish dinners and 
milk punches. 

If, when he is ready to leave Savannah and pursue his southward 
journey, the traveler would still proceed by water, a most interesting trip, 
by the fine boats of the Florida Railway and Navigation Company, 
known as the "Montgomery Route," through the vast salt marshes and 
lagoons behind the Sea Islands that fringe the Georgia coast, offers itself. 
By going this way he will finally cross the broad expanse of Cumberland 
Sound, passing old Dungenness, on Cumberland Island, once the home of 
Gen. Nathaniel Greene, but now owned by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, of 
Pittsburgh, and be landed at Fernandina, whence he will proceed by train, 
33 miles, to Jacksonville. 

The favorite route to Florida, for those who wish to prolong their ocean 
voyage to its greatest possible length, is by the Mallory Line from New York 
to Fernandina. Every Tuesday and Friday a steamship of this line 
leaves Pier 20, East River, in New York, and three or four days later it 
reaches Fernandina, having made a few hours' stop on the way at Port 
Royal, in South Carolina. This break in the voyage is usually highly 
appreciated by the passengers, who here obtain their first glimpses of 
genuine Southern scenery, and who generally profit by the detention of 
the steamer to take a run ashore. The shores along the river, between its 
mouth and the quaint old town, abound in earthworks, relics of the civil 
war, old plantation houses, moss-hung live-oaks, palmetto trees and other 
objects of interest novel to the Northern eye. A walk of a mile and a 
half from the wharf takes one to the ruins of an old Spanish fort. 

If Port Royal is left late in the afternoon, Fernandina is reached 
early the next morning. Its harbor is the finest on the Atlantic coast 
south of Chesapeake Bay, and in it, during the War of 181 2, when the city 
belonged to Spain and was consequently a neutral port, more than 300 
square-rigged vessels rode at anchor at once. The city was founded by 
the Spaniards in 1632, and is located on Amelia Island, which is especially 
noted for its magnificent ocean beach. Fernandina is a charming place in 
which to spend the closing weeks of the Florida season, and offers hotel 
accommodations equal to any in the State. 

Other routes to Florida from the North are : the Louisville and Nash- 
ville from Cincinnati, Louisville, and St. Louis, to Pensacola, in the extreme 
western part of Florida, and thence east to Jacksonville ; the Cin- 
cinnati Southern, from Cincinnati and Louisville to Chattanooga, Atlanta 
and Jesup, and thence over the Savannah, Florida and Western ("Way- 
cross") to Jacksonville and the great " Monon Route " from Chicago, by 
which the traveler may stop off and visit the Mammoth Cave. 

These are all -rail routes. By sea a fine line of steamships, owned by 
the Boston and Savannah Steamship Company,makes weekly trips between 



go Traveler s Guide — Routes and Places. 

the capital city of New England and Savannah. The voyage occupies 
seventy hours, and is one of the pleasantest and most interesting along the 
Atlantic coast. 

Steamships, carrying freight only, connect Philadelphia and Savannah, 
making weekly trips. 

The Merchants' and Miners' Transportation Company maintains a 
weekly line of passenger steamers between Baltimore and Savannah, and lines 
of freight steamers are run between Boston, Baltimore, and Fernandina. 

A very popular line is that of the New York and Charleston Steamship 
Companv from New York to Charleston. At this point a connecting line of 
two new iron steamers, the "City of Palatka " andihe "City of Monticello," 
is run semi-weekly to Palatka, on the St. Johns River, seventy-five miles 
above Jacksonville. Between Charleston and Palatka these steamers touch 
at Savannah, Fernandina, Jacksonville, and all landings along the St. 
Johns River. 

The best way to send boats to Florida from New York, is by the 
Warren Ray line of schooners, of which the New York office is at 62 South 
Street. 

Jacksonville, the largest and most important City in Florida, is 
the point at which nearly all the railway and steamboat lines centre, and 
is practically the gateway of the State. Most of its business is conducted 
by Northern men, and many of its characteristics are Northern, but its 
climate, its foliage, and the condition of its streets, are strictly Southern. 
It is possessed of a number of first-class hotels, in which the accommoda- 
tions offered are equal to those of the best Northern summer resorts, and 
of a quantity of smaller hotels and boarding houses that are as well kept 
as others of a similar class in any part of the country. Prices for board and 
lodging range all the way from one to five dollars per day, and good 
rooms, without board, may be obtained for from eight dollars to twelve 
dollars per month. Thecityiswell provided with street railways; and public 
convevances of all descriptions, in which the charges are moderate, meet 
every incoming train and boat. Jacksonville is located on the west bank 
of the St. Johns River, twenty-five miles from its mouth, and large steamers 
and sailing vessels lie at its wharves. It has a water system, a fire depart- 
ment, and is lighted bv gas and electricity. 

One of the most attractive of its social features is the Jacksonville Club, 
whose charming and handsomely appointed house is always thrown hos- 
pitably open to well accredited visitors. 

The short excursions that may be made from Jacksonville are many and 
delightful. To the north, and only -^^t^ miles away, via the F. R. & N. Co.'s 
Railway, lies Fernandina and its magnificent beach. On the east, 35 miles 
distant, by way of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Rail- 
way, is the ancient city of St. Augustine. On the south, on the line of the 
Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway, is Magnolia, with its splen- 
did hotel and beautiful surroundings, twenty-eight miles distant ; and 
Green Cove Springs, one mile beyond, offering wonderful sulphur 
springs and fascinating woodland v.alks. 

By boat, on the St Johns, daily excursions may be taken down the 
river to its mouth, near which are Pilot Town, May Port and P'ort George 



Traveler s Guide — Routes and Places. 91 

Island, on which is one of the most beautiful drives in Florida. Arlington, 
only five miles down the river, and on its opposite shore, is a delightful 
place for a picnic, or in which to spend a few days. 

Up the river, and on its eastern shore, is Mandarin, Mrs. Stowe's winter 
home, distant fifteen miles from Jacksonville by boat. The tourist is also 
taken by boat up the river to Fruit Cove, Hibernia, Magnolia, Green Cove 
Springs, Tocoi, and so on up to Palatka, which is distant seventy-five miles 
by river and fifty-five bv rail. 

St. AugUStiriG, the most attractive of all Southern cities to the tourist, 
may, in addition to the route already mentioned, be reached by taking boat 
up the river to Tocoi, forty-nine miles, and from there the St. Johns 
Raihvay, eighteen miles further ; or by train up the west bank of the river 
to West Tocoi, at which point a ferry connects with the same railway to 
the " Ancient City." The attractions of St. Augustine are its old Spanish 
Fort, which is called both San Marco and Marion ; its plaza, cathedral and 
old slave market, its splendid sea wall, quaint houses with balconies over- 
hanging the narrow streets, its many palms and other tropical foliage, its 
unexcelled facilities for boating, hunting and fishing, and the opportunities 
afforded for driving and horseback riding. It is a United States military 
post, and being the headquarters of a regiment, its inhabitants are treated 
several times each week to the music of the fine regimental band. St. 
Augustine contains a great number of boarding houses, and several fine 
hotels, the largest and best of which is the elegant new San Marco, located 
just outside the old city gates, within a short walk of Fort Marion, and 
opened for the first time this season. 

Palatka, located on the western bank of the St. Johns River, is one 
of the important cities of Florida, and, in addition to many attractions, 
has heretofore offered unexcelled hotel accommodations ; but a ter- 
rible fire swept over the city on the 8th of last November, that not only 
destroyed all of its hotels, except two small ones, but also the entire busi- 
ness portion of the city. Rebuilding was at once begun, and the Putnam 
House will be open as usual. Col. Hart's Orange Grove, across the 
river from the city, is one of the show groves of the State. Palatka is the 
point of departure for steamboats going up the Ocklawahaand to Crescent 
City. It is also the eastern and northern terminus of the Florida Southern 
Railway, which runs to Gainesville, Ocala and Leesburg. 

The Ocklawaha boats leave Palatka in the morning, and 
occupy the entire day and the following night in making the 
trip to Silver Spring, which place is reached about seven o'clock 
the next morning. These boats are necessarily small and of light 
draught ; but they are remarkably comfortable, and the table spread 
aboard of them is excellent. From Palatka they go for twenty- 
five miles up the St. Johns to Welaka, opposite which place they enter 
the mouth of the Ocklawaha (Crooked Water). The trip up this weird, 
uncanny stream is most interesting, more especially after dark, when 
the watery pathway is illuminated by the ruddy glare of a lightwood 
fliare set on top of the pilot-house. The "gateway of the Ocklawaha," 
two enormous cypress-trees growing in the river, so close to each other 
that there is barely room for the steamer to pass between them, is passed 



92 - Traveler s Guide — Routes and Plaees. 

about midnight, just above the Eure1<a landing. Silver Spring Run, the 
nine miles Tong outlet of the world-renowned spring, is entered about 
sunrise, and the remainder of the trip over its crystal waters, that reveal 
with startling distinctness every object on the bottom, is most fasci- 
nating. No words can describe the marvelous beauties of the glorious 
spring itself. It must be visited, and its wonders seen, to be appreci- 
ated, or even understood. 

The St. Johns, above Palatka, narrows very considerably from 
the great width that it has maintained to this point, and every mile of 
progress southward over its waters adds to its interest, and its tropical 
appearance. Opposite Welaka, twenty-five miles from Palatka, is the 
mouth of the Ocklawaha ; then cones the broad, beautiful expanse of 
Lake George, and beyond it Volusia on one side of the river, and .Astor 
on the other. 

At Astor is the terminus of the St. Johns and Lake Eustis Rail- 
way, running southeasterly from the river into the heart of the glorious 
Lake Region, and to Fort Mason, Eustis, Tavares, and Leesburg. 

De Land, 162 miles up the river from Jacksonville, is the next 
point of interest. From the landing the traveler is whirled for five miles 
through the pine wood, on a gently ascending grade, over the Orange 
Ridge, De Land and Atlantic Railway, to the model Florida city. Located 
on a high sandy ridge, in the midst of a pine forest, De Land is one of 
the most healthful spots in the State; and being a community of thrifty, 
enterprising Northern people, it is also one of the most prosperous and 
progressive places in the South. There are no paupers in De Land, and 
its residences and public buildings are all roomy, comfortable structures, 
built in good taste, and neatly painted, in which respect they differ from 
the majority of Florida houses. In the city are twenty stores, all carrying 
large stocks of goods, five churches, three hotels, besides many other busi- 
ness places, and, what is most important of all, a fine public school and 
an academy. The latter is under the management of Dr. J. H. Griffith, of 
Troy, N. Y., and in it students of both sexes are fitted for college or for 
teaching. De Land is surrounded, for miles in every direction, by orange 
groves in all stages of development, from those just set out to those filled 
with magnificent trees in full bearing. Being but twenty-five miles from 
the Atlantic coast, the air of the place is kept sweet by the ever-blowing 
salt sea breezes, that here mingle with the resinous odors of the pines and 
the perfume of orange blossoms. 

Sanford, the most important city on the St. Johns above Palatka, 
is beautifully situated on the south side of Lake Monroe, which is but a 
widening of the river. It is 193 miles from Jacksonville by the river, or 
twelve hours' sail by the fast steamers, and is by rail about half that dis- 
tance, and can be reached in about half the time. The Jacksonville, 
Tampa, and Key West Railway has for some time been graded between 
Palatka and Sanford, and it is expected that trains will run between the 
two cities in time for this season's tourist travel. Nine miles above Pa- 
latka it crosses to the east side of the St. Johns, and runs via Crescent 
City, Seville, De Land, and Orange City to the lower end of Lake Mon- 



Traveler s Guide — Routes and Places. 93 

roe, where it again crosses the river to reach Sanford. This city is the 
head of lower river navigation, and the point of departure for the small 
up-river boats, which run 150 miles further to Rockledge and the Indian 
River country. It is also the terminus of the South Florida Railroad, by 
which it is connected with Tampa, 115 miles away on the Gulf coast. 
Sanford is a city of phenomenal growth, and was founded in 1870 by 
General Henry S. Sanford, of Connecticut. 

Winter Park, seventeen miles by rail, south of Sanford, is one of 
the most charming resorts of Northern people in Florida. It is situated 
amid a series of beautiful lakes, is well laid out, and contains many fine 
residences, and a large new hotel, which is under the same management 
as the famous Argyle at Babylon, Long Island. 

Orlando, tv.enty miles from Sanford, on the South Florida Rail- 
road, is a flourishing and prosperous city, and is the county -seat of Orange 
County. A second line of railroad, finished during the summer of 1885, 
connects it w-ith Apopka, Tavares, and the Lake Region. 

Kissimme'e City, forty miles from Sanford, is beautifully located 
on Lake Tahopekilaga. and is at the head of the vast system of inland 
navigation that, by way of the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, and 
the Caloosahatchie River, is now opened to the Gulf. It is also the 
head-quarters of the wide-spreading operations of the Disston Drainage 
Company, and the place where all their dredges, snag-boats and steam- 
ers are built. It boasts a most excellent hotel, at which trains are 
stopped for meals. Twelve miles from Kissimmee is the flourishing two- 
year-old English settlement of Runnymede, one of the most interesting 
places in the State. Here is located a model farm and school of agri- 
culture, in which is taught the management of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, 
bees, and poultr}-, orange-growing, sugar-planting, etc. Visitors will find 
in Runn3nnede a large hotel, and several boarding-houses. 

Bartow Junction is sixty-eight miles from Sanford, and seventeen 
miles further, on a branch line of road, is Bartow, a comparatively old 
town, into w'hich the railroad has infused new life and energy. 

Xjakeland, eighty -three miles from Sanford, is pleasantly located 
amid a number of small lakes on the highest land traversed by the South 
Florida Railroad. It is an important point, as here the Florida South- 
ern Road, from Leesburg and the North, forms a junction with the South 
Florida. There is a fairly well kept railway eating-house here, at which 
many of the trains stop for meals. 

Plant City, ten miles beyond, is a new place that is growing 
rapidly, and discounting the future, when it, too, hopes to be an impor- 
tant railway junction. It is proposed that the Peninsula Division of the 
Florida Railway and Navigation Company's Railways shall cross the 
South Florida Road at this point. 

Tampa, 115 miles from Sanford, has always been an important 
place ; but now, as the terminus of two railroads, and the point of de- 
parture of steamers for Key West, Havana, and the many small ports 
along the Gulf coast of Florida, it is rapidly becoming a business centre 
of very considerable magnitude. Tampa contains a number of hotels, 



94 Tj'avelers Guide — Routes and Places. 

and many boarding-houses ; but they are all small, and olTer but indiffer- 
ent accommodations. 

Palma Sola (Lone Palm), situated at the mouth of Tampa Bay 
on its southern side, and 36 miles from Tampa, is one of the most 
important and promising of the new Gulf ports. It is located just within 
the mouth of the Manatee River, and with its fine store, carrying an 
immense stock of general merchandise, its wharves, warehouses, saw 
and planing mills, good hotel, and neat cottages, it looks like what it is, 
a busy, prosperous, and flourishing place. The great industry of Palma 
Sola is fishing, and within its corporate limits are sev^eral extensive fish- 
eries, from which many thousands of packages of the finest food fish of 
the Gulf of Mexico are annually shipped to the North and to the interior 
of Florida. The fine swift steamer i\f'i?-garef, Captain Warner, makes 
daily trips between Tampa and Palma Sola, the run occupying but two 
and a half hours each way. The steamer Maiiatec plies every week 
between Palma vSola and Charlotte Harbor, touching at Punta Rassa, 
Fort Myers, Fort Ogden and intermediate points, and the Governor 
Safford makes two trips a week up the coast to Cedar Key, touching at 
all the coast ports. 

From Tampa the fine steam-ship, Alascotte, 275 feet long and capa- 
ble of making seventeen knots an hour, runs direct to Havana, touching 
at Key West She has just been built and placed on this rontehy the 
Plant Investment Company, for the purpose of carrj-ing passengers and 
the U. S. mails. 

The Morgan steamers from New Orleans and Cedar Keys, for Key 
West and Flavana, also run into Tampa Bay, and may be boarded from 
Palma Sola. 

Above Palma Sola on the Manatee River are Braidentown, Mana- 
tee, Palmetto, Fogartysville, and Ellentown. On Sarasota Bay, only a 
few miles from Palma Sola, is a thrifty Scotch settlement recently 
formed by a colony from the old country. 

Punta Kassa, a day's run down the coast from Tampa Bay, at 
the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, is not a town or even a village, 
but is of importance as being the terminus of the telegraph cable to 
Cuba, and a port from which large shipments of cattle are made. 

Fort Myers, twenty miles up the river from Punta Rassa, is a 
place of about 500 inhabitants and the most important town in that 
part of the State. It is the headquarters for the army of settlers who 
are pouring into this section, and rapidly occupying the fertile lands of 
the Caloosahatchie valley. The coming industry of this portion of the 
peninsula is the raising of cocoanuts, of which thousands are now being 
annually planted. 

Of the western central portion of Florida the largest and most im- 
portant places are Gainesville, Ocala, and Leesburg. 

Gainesville is seventy miles from Jacksonville, and may be 
reached by the F. R. and N. Railroad from Jacksonville, the S. F. and 
W. Railway from Live Oak, or the Florida Southern from Palatka. It 
is an important railroad centre,, and the seat of a large and rapidly 



Traveler s Guide — Routes and Peaces. 95 

growing business. It boasts a good hotel, a militaiy academy, a num- 
ber of factories, a daily newspaper, and other evidences of well-estab- 
lished prosperity. 

Ocala, 66 miles from Jacksonville and about thirty, due south from 
Gainesville, is a city of equal importance with the latter as a railroad 
and business centre. The F. R. and N. Co.'s road, the Florida Southern, 
and the Silver Spring, Ocala, and Gulf Railroads pass through it. It is 
located in the very midst of the rich farming and orange lands for which 
Marion county is famous, and is one of the most enterprising and 
rapidly-growing cities of the State. 

Lieesburg, 150 miles from Jacksonville and forty miles southeast 
of Ocala, is also an important railroad centre and stands on the western 
border of the famous Lake Region, about which cluster the most pro- 
ductive orafige groves and truck farms of the State. Midway between 
Ocala and Leesburg lies Lake Weir, a magnificent sheet of water, bor- 
dered by a beach of white sand and surrounded by bold bluffs which are 
being crowned wi^h some of the most charming winter homes in Florida. 
From Leesburg txain may be taken for Fort Mason, Astor, and the 
St. John's River, for Tavares, Apopka, and Orlando, for Brooksville or 
for Tampa. From here also a small steamer may be taken for a pleas- 
ant trip around Lake Harris, touching at Yallaha and Lane Park. 

Cedar Key is 127 miles from Jacksonville, and may be reached 
either from there or Fernandina by the road of the F. R. and N. Co. 
It is famous for its fisheries and is a port whence steamers may be taken 
for New Orleans, Key West, Havana, or any of the Gulf ports of Flor- 
ida. It is also a good place in which to obtain an outfit for a cruise or 
a hunting expedition down the west coast. 

The various points of interest on the eastern coast of Florida, south 
of St. Augustine, may best be reached from Sanford. 

Enterprise is situated four miles across Lake Monroe from San- 
ford, and is one of the places at which the traveler may take the stage 
for the Indian River. The terminus of the stage line is Titusville, 
where is a fairly well-kept hotel, and from which steamers ply up and 
down the Indian River. The most interesting place in Enterprise is 
the magnificent orange grove and fine winter residence of Count Fred, 
de Bary. 

Rockledge, the most beautiful and most important of all the 
Indian River settlements, is reached by steamers Waunita and Astatula 
from Sanford to Lake Poinsett, the head of St. John's River navigation, 
and a three-mile stage ride across countiy, through swamps and pine 
forests. Rockledge offers to the tourist a large and well-appointed 
hotel, just completed, and unlimited entertainment in the way of boat- 
ing, burning and fishing. It is the outfitting point for all Indian River 
trips, but is in itself so beautiful as to well repay a visit of some length. 
The India7i River Sun, published here, is one of the best and most 
interesting of Florida papers outside of Jacksonville. At Rockledge 
the traveler may take steamer for a hundred miles southward to Jupiter 
Inlet, which is the extreme southern point of the extended system of 
salt water lagoons that go by the general name of Indian River; or he 



96 Traveler s Guide — Routes and Places. 

may, at Rockledge, engage passage on one of the numerous small sail- 
ing craft that constantly ply up and down the river. At Jupiter, if he 
would go still further south, and visit Lake Worth, the inlet to which 
is ten miles below Jupiter Inlet, he must trust to passing sharpies or 
yachts. 

!Lake Worth, which is described at length in the chapter on the 
Indian River, is one of the most beautiful places in Florida, and well 
repays one for the difficulties he must encounter in reaching it. 

Ne'W Smyrna, on the Hillsborough River, which, with the Halifax 
and Matanzas Rivers, form another series of salt water lagoons, extend- 
ing north from Indian River to St. Augustine, is distant only eight hours 
from St. Augustine by steamer. This steamer connects with the Jack- 
sonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Raihvay, and makes an out- 
side ocean trip from St. Augustine to Mosquito Inlet. *From New 
Smyrna small steamers and numerous sail boats ply up the Halifax 
River to Daytona, ,the most flourishing town on the eastern coast, and 
one of the most beautiful, and down the Hillsborough River to Oak 
Hill, where is located the Atlantic House, the best sportsmen's hotel in 
the State. There is also a good hotel at New Smyrna, but the place 
itself is of but little importance or interest, 

Talialiassee, the capital of the State, " the Floral City, " is due west 
165 miles from Jacksonville, and is reached by the F. R. & N. Co.'s Rail- 
way (Western Division). Leaving Jacksonville about eight o'clock in the 
evening, by the F. R. & N. Co.'s Railway, the traveler soon retires to his 
comfortable sleeping-berth, wearied of the monotony of the pine barrens 
through which he is riding. As he sleeps he passes through Baldwin, 
Olustee (where a great battle was fought in 1864), Lake City, Live Oak, 
whence a branch of the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway runs to 
New Branford, the head of steamboat navigation on the vSuwanee River; 
EUaville, where the Suwanee River is crossed, and where the song of " Old 
Folks at Home'" was written; Madison, and Drifton Jc, or Monticello 
Station, connected by a branch road with the beautiful, old-fashioned city 
of Monticello, four miles away. Now it is time to leave his berth and look 
out for Tallaha.ssee. 

'I'he train is running through a rich hill country, dotted with lakes and 
groves of oak and magnolia, and at the first view of Tallahassee, crowning 
a hill-top and bathed in sunlight, it is hard to realize that this is still Florida. 

The Leon Hotel in Tallahassee is a well kept, first-class house, recently 
built, and offering every modern convenience to both transient guests and 
those seeking a winter home in the Floral City. Besides this and several 
other hotels, the city is well supplied with comfortable boarding-houses. The 
fine red-clay roads of this section of country offer many attractive drives, 
among the pleasantv:;st of which are those to Lake Jackson, five miles, a 
body of water seventeen miles long ; to Wakulla Spring, sixteen miles, one 
of the most famous springs in Florida ; to Thomasville, Ga.% thirty-five 
miles ; to the Bubbling Spring, on the old Branch Place ; and to the 
Natural Bridge, acro.ss the St. Mark's River, twenty miles. Here was 
fought one of the two battles of the Civil War contested on Florida soil. 
St. Mark's, the old seaport of Middle Florida, is connected with Talk- 



Traveler s Guide — Routes and Places. 97 

hassee by a twenty-one mile railroad. Near St. Mark's is Newport, once 
a flourishing place, but now nearly deserted, where are some fine sulphur 
springs. 

From Tallahassee westward, touching at Quincy on tlie way, the rail- 
road runs through the same fine hill country to Chattahoochee, its terminus 
on the Apalachicola River. Here is located the State Insane Asylum. 
The Y. R. & N. Co.'s Railway connects here with the Pensacola and 
Atlantic Railroai, which runs due west 170 miles, through a fine, but as 
?s yet little developed country, to Pensacola. Connection is also made at 
Chattahoochee with the CHmax Branch of the Savannah and Florida and 
Western Railway. 

Pensacola is a city of about 6,000 inhabitants, situated on Pensa- 
cola Bay, ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It is noted as being the 
principal lumber shipping })ort in the South, and in its harbor ride vessels 
of all nations. The Continental Hotel is the principal one, and the ob- 
jects of greatest interest near the city are the Navy Yard, and the remains, 
still to be traced,- of the old Spanish forts, San Miguel and 8an Bernard. 

A writer in Harpers Weekly describes Pensacola as follows : 

" The approach to Pensacola from the sea is of ever-varying beauty. 
Long lines of sandy beach and dark woodland point in converging lines to 
the distant harbor. Closer in is the tall light-house pointing finger-like 
heavenward, with a background of dark trees and peeping cottages, below 
which runs, like a ribbon of satin, the snow-white beach for miles. Pre- 
sently the long ocean swell ceases, and we are passing the forts. On the 
left are the ruins of Fort McRae, now only a few massive arches of tough 
masonry tottering amid the surges rippling under their gloomy shadows, 
wdiile opposite is Fort Pickens, gray, straight-faced, and sturdy, crouching, 
as it were, on the land's end of historic Santa Rosa Island. In spite of 
its battle record it looks quite modern, with the great guns gazing vigil- 
andv out to sea. In the distance the remains of old Fort Barancas lie 
sleeping with the memories of General Jackson and the Spanish command- 
ant who blew- it up at the capture of the place by the American army in 
1812. 

" As we enter the harbor we find it land-locked and of immense mag- 
nitude, its further shores appearing as if on the horizon. It is a shelter for 
the navies of the world. 

" To the left appears the town, fronted by the massive buildings of the 
Navy-yard, the great derricks holding aloft boilers for expectant hulls. 
The size of the place can only be guessed at from the steamer's deck by 
house roofs and distant spires. 

'• The lower part of the town has an essentially nautical flivor. The 
sandy streets are filled w-ith a motley crowd of mariners. The talk is of 
ships and cargoes, and the bell of the Norwegian chapel, nesthng almost 
under the yard-arms of the ships at dock, mingles with the forecistle bells 
striking the hour, tolled may be by some ancient quarter-master of a se.xton ; 
and strangely out of place seems a back-country ox-cart, whose great broad 
wooden-tired wheels, and crates of 'gophers,' or land-turtles, roll silently 
over the sand. 



q8 fravclers Guide — Routes and Places. 

"The wharves are immense structures, thickly laced with car tracks, 
walled in by masses of closely packed shipping, whose interlocked spars 
and masts are as a forest through which a road is cut. Here the smaller 
iron steamers, those ' ocean tramps,' nestle beside the great three-masters 
to secure a share of the vast forests of lumber annually exported, which 
by train loads continually pour on the docks. 

" Out on the broad harbor are fleets of vessels clustered about great 
timber rafts which have been floated out to them, and from which their 
gaping holds are being rapidly filled. Tugs are towing out rafts to ones 
further distant. Here are two just spreading their wings to sail. There 
is one just arrived and dropping anchor, and in the offing more are inward 
bound. It is an animated scene, rendered doubly delightful by a balmy 
air, a cloudless sky, and the odors of pine freshly cut." 



I 



Hints to Spoftsmen, 



BY "AL FRESCO.' 



HUNTING. 



IF we take into consideration its accessibility, facilities for reaching 
various points, cheapness of traveling, abundance of game and> 
fish in various localities, and unequaled climatic conditions, 

Florida as a hunting-ground cannot be excelled by any portion of the- 
United States or Canada. Sporting in Florida has been misrepresentec^ 
through the ignorance and stupidity of soi-disant sportsmen who a: 
nually visit the State. They first appear in Jacksonville, clothed in sport- 
ing suits, are supplied with that piscatorial abortion, a "trunk rod,'" 
and a breech-loading gun or rifle ; and they create a sensation wher- 
ever they appear. Steamboat and railroad runners " mark them down" 
as legitimate game, and stuff them as full as a Thanksgiving turkey. 
They are sold excursion tickets to points where quail are so plentiful 
that they can be ''shipped to New York and made to pay all expenses;" 
to lakes "black with ducks;" to sections where "the water is alive 
with fish ;" and to points where "turkeys gobble fi )m every bush;" 
and "where 'gators can be bagged by hundreds." These quasi sports- 
men visit Waldo, Palatka, Sandford, Ocala, Enterprise, and St. Angus- 
tine, reap disappointment, have an acute attack of cacoethes scribendi^ and 
on their return grossly misrepresent the sporting resources of the State. 
They are so verdant as to suppose that game can exist in quantity in 
cities, towns, and villages, and that fish can be caught in street gutters 
and mud-holes. These silly sportsmen forget that for eighteen years 
thousands of their ilk have been traveling over the railroads and rivers of 
Eastern Plorida, and have shot and destroyed almost every living thing. 
In Florida, as everywhere else, sportsmen must abandon main lines of 
travel and thickly settled neighborhoods, and visit sections to which 
"pot hunters" and " fish hogs" have not found their way. 

Jacksonville is, par excellence, the objective and distributing point 
of the State, and I shall offer no apology for referring to it as a start- 
ing-point. In the creeks emptying into the St. John's River, a few miles 
from its mouth, fair duck-shooting can be secured. There is daily 
Steamboat communication with Mayport, at the mouth of the river 



L.ofC. 



!00 Hints io Sportsmen — Hunting. 

where boats can be hired and comfortable quarters may be obtained. 
From about the middle of November to the last of December ducks 
exist in immense quantities in the St. John's River, at points from seven 
to twelve miles belov/ Jacksonville. 

A railroad opened in 1884 now connects, from Jacksonville and Sl 
Augustine. En route to the latter city, the sportsman will leave Diego 
Plains, where good quail and snipe shooting will be found, to his left. 
By securing the services of one of the old hunters who kill game for the 
St. Augustine market, the sportsman may be given a shot at a deer. At 
the head of the Matanzas River, south of St. Augustine, good duck and 
snipe shooting are to be had. A company is now engaged in cutting a 
canal from the head of the Matanzas River to the head of the Halifax 
River. When completed it will furnish a boat route from St. Augustine 
to the head of the Mosquito Lagoon, and by way of the Haulover to the 
'head of the Indian River. On the Halifax River and Mosquito Lagoon, 
ducks, snipe, and curlew will be found in quantity. From Jacksonville, 
sportsmen can reach New Smyrna, on the Halifax River, by the pro- 
peller Greenwich, which makes two trips each week. 

Steamboats leave Jacksonville daily for Enterprise and Sanford, 
and connect with boats for Lake Poinsett, the head of navigation on 
the St. John's, and a drive of three miles from Lake Poinsett will land 
them at Rock Ledge, on the Indian River. At Sand Point or Rock 
Ledge, boats and boatmen can be hired for a trip to the lower end of 
Indian River. By ascending any of the tributary streams of this river, 
deer may be found in sufficient numbers to justify the expenditure of 
time and money. Within a few years they have diminished in numbers 
in the territory west of the Indian River ; for the Indians have hunted 
them for their pelts, numbers of Northern and Western sportsmen 
have visited the section each winter, and as a consequence they have 
■been thinned out and rendered wild. On the peninsula, between 
Indian River and the Atlantic, bear are common. They visit the ocean 
beach at night to pick up anything edible the water has deposited. 
If the sportsman is anxious to cultivate the acquaintance of a bear, 
let him envelop himself in a sheet and walk to windward. Owing 
to the whiteness of the beach, bruin will be visible at a long distance ; 
but the disguise of the hunter will prevent the animal from noticing 
his approach. 

By taking an outside boat trip from Jupiter Inlet to Lake Worth, 
good hunting can be secured, and an almost unknown wilderness 
found extending from Lake Worth to Lake Okeechobee. In the 
section referred to, plenty of deer and an occasional bear and panther 
will be found, and the sportsman will be rewarded for his exertions. 
South of Bay Biscayne is the old Indian Hunting-ground, where 
•superior hunting still exists. But, if reports are true,^ sportsmen 
must keep a " weather eye" open, or they will be subjected to a coat of 
saliva, and introduced to the buccal dcvelopnicnt of a python, which 
•some of the Indians assert inhabits this section, and is much dreaded 
by them. Barnum should send his employees to the section with 
orders to capture the reported monster. They might not secure a sea 



Hmts to Sportsmen — Hunting. loi 

setpent, but they might capture the great Eunietes tnarinus, which is 
reported to inhabit the Indian Hunting-ground. At one time the Keys 
were well supplied with deer, but wreckers and others have destroyed 
them. At Cape Sable, deer can still be found. At North Cape Sable,, 
Shark River enters the Gulf. Along the margin of this stream purs- 
lain (portulacca) grows in abundance, and, at night, deer feed upon it. 
By using a fire-light or " jack," and quietly paddling near the shore, no 
difficulty will be experienced in supplying the larder with venison. 

Leaving Jacksonville by the Way Cross Railroad, the adventurous 
sportsman will find a section worthy of notice — the great Okefinokee 
Swamp in Southeast Georgia and North Florida. Various attempts 
have been made to explore it in a thorough manner, but with only par- 
tial success. If the autumnal rains have been sufficient, it can be 
crossed in flat-bottomed boats from points near the railroad. The 
Swamp contains a number of creeks, ponds, lakes, and islands. During 
the winter, ducks and snipe exist in countless numbers, and on the 
islands deer and bear are common. Well-developed rattlers are plen- 
tiful during the summer on the islands, and an occasional one may be 
found in winter. Fish are more than plentiful in the streams, 4agoons, 
and ponds. The fly fisherman or the hand-liner, with a spoon or 
spinner, will find ample employment. If desired, the sportsman can 
leave the swamp by the head of the Suwanee River, descend this stream 
to the crossing of the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad, and take 
train at this point, or he can continue to descend the stream to the 
Gulf. 

In the western portion of the State, west of the Suwanee and east 
of the Chattahoochee Rivers, the country is, as a rule, high and rolling. 
In ante-bellum times large corn and cotton fields existed, but they 
have been " turned out," abandoned as regards cultivation, and have 
grown up with bushes and sedge-grass ; and in these old fields quail do 
most congregate. At many points, if the autumn has not been very 
dry, the sportsman will experience no dii^culty in securing a bag. It is 
probable that no portion of the Union offers greater inducements to the 
wing shot than the section between Madison and Quincy. The only 
drawback to sport is the absence of the usual autumnal rains. When 
this is the case, birds seek spring heads and damp places, where they 
are difficult to flush on account of the density of the undergrowth. In 
the section referred to there are many beautiful lakes and ponds,where 
duck can be shot in quantity, m many of the marshes and around some 
of the lakes excellent snipe shooting exists, and at certain points a 
few woodcock will be found. I have not visited that portion of the 
State west of the Chattahoochee River, but from information obtained 
from reliable parties, I believe that at certain points fair deer and 
turkey shooting will be found. Since the railroad has been completed 
from Jacksonville to Pensacola the western portion of the State can be 
reached in about twenty-one hours. 

An almost unknown and untrodden sporting-ground exists oh the 
Gulf coast between the Suwanee River and St Mark's. The coast line 
is a shoal, grassy flat, without undertow, breakers, or rollers, and can 



7 02 Hints to Sportsmen — Hunting. 

be safely navigated in a small boat;. For miles adjoniing the coast, set- 
tlements do not exist, and deer and turkeys are plentiful. The small 
rivers emptying" into the Gulf can be ascended and excellent camping- 
grounds found, near which good sport can be had. In addition to 
game, the rivers teem with sheephead, channel bass, cavallii, sea trout, 
and black bass, and in a few minutes the frying-pan can be supplied 
with fish. This section can be reached from Jacksonville by the Flori- 
da Central and Western, and Transit Railroads to Cedar Keys, or by 
the Way Cross line to Way Cross ; thence via the S., F. and W. R. R. to 
New Brand ford, and from the latter place by steamboat to the mouth 
of the Suwanee River or Cedar Keys The section referred to is well 
worthy of notice, for pot hunters, fish hogs, and the owners of trunk 
rods have not visited it. During the winter months ducks exist in 
countless numbers, and the expert can bring to bag "honk honkers." 
If sportsmen are not provided with boats, their wants will be supplied 
by Mr. Mitchell, of the firm of Mitchell & Anderson, Cedar Keys, 
who also keep a supply of groceries and creature comforts, and will 
use every effort to accommodate sportsmen. 

Amoftg the islands, between Cedar Keys and the mouth of the 
Suwanee River, excellent duck, snipe, and curlew shooting will be 
found, and, if the sportsman is accustomed to the business, he can bag 
Avild geese. On many of the streams between Cedar Keys and Tampa 
Bay fair duck shooting can be secured. When I entered the Homo- 
sassa River first, many portions of it were literally black with ducks ; 
others followed in my tracks, and for years ducks had no rest, so that 
at present it is difficult to secure a bag. Near the head of the Homo- 
sassa deer and turkey abound. Between Clear Water Harbor and the 
northerly end of Tampa Bay there will be found a narrow and shallow 
channel, known as Indian Pass. Southeast of this Pass, and to the 
northeast of the stream, is a broad mud flat, where snipe, curlew, and 
duck can be shot in sufficient numbers to gratify the most ardent 
sportsman. On the islands and mainland bordering Sarasota Bay but 
little game will be found. Leaving Sarasota Bay by Little Sarasota or 
Casey's Pass, Kettle Harbor will be sighted, and a safe harbor may be 
made. If desired, Charlotte Harbor can be reached by an inside pas- 
sage leading from Kettle Harbor, or by the outside route to Little 
Gasparilla Pass. Having been informed that the inside passage is 
badly obstructed by mud flats, I never attempted its navigation, but 
selected the Gulf for my route. I have found deer very plentiful on 
the islands of Charlotte Harbor, but, with the exception of Pine and 
Sanibel Islands, they are at present few and far between. On the main- 
land north of Pine Island fair deer and turkey shooting can be ob- 
tained. This harbor is the paradise of the snipe and curlew shooter, 
for at times some of the mud flats and oyster bars are literally covered 
with birds. On some of the islands, notably Little Gasparilla, rac- 
coons are very plentiful, and during a moonlight night, along the bay 
side of the island, they can be seen in great numbers. On more than 
one occasion I have killed them in daylight when feeding on the coon 
oyster-beds. In cruising among the islands in Charlotte Harbor, fresh 



Hints to Sportsmen — Fishing 103 

water is an important item, and a few hints in regard to it may not be 
amiss. A depression exists in the centre of Little Gasparilla Island, 
where potable water will be found. At the fish ranch, on the northerly- 
end of La Costa Island, is a fresh water well. On the westerly side of 
Pine Island, near the large shell mound, and at the easterly side of 
Usisipi Island, at the foot of the shell mound, wells exist, from which a 
supply of excellent water may be secured. It is not generally known, 
but good water can be secured on most of the islands if a shallow hole 
is dug in a low place. No sportsman should take a boat trip on this 
coast without a shovel. 

At Bird Key, near the island of L^sisipi, a large rookery exists, 
where immense numbers of sea birds roost at night — a point where the 
taxidermist can obtain any quantity of specimens. Sanibel Island is 
situated at the southerly end of the bay, and two years since it was 
well supplied with deer. In its bayous and extensive marshes on the 
bay side, ducks, curlews, and snipe can be bagged in quantity. Char- 
lotte Harbor presents many attractions to the gunner as well as the pis- 
cator. Superior oysters can be found at Masteehet and in the bayous of 
Sanibel, and large, tender, and delicious clams can be obtained at many 
points. The water in the bay is warm and delightful for sea bathing. 
Sanibel, at its southerly end, affords an excellent camping-ground, and, 
if home comforts are desired, Jake Sumerlin, at Punta Rassa, will do 
his best to make it pleasant for visitors. 

By ascending the Caloosahatchie River, unsettled points will be 
found, where deer and turkey exist in sufficient numbers to warrant 
the expenditure of time and money in reaching them. My experience 
is, that ducks are very wild on this stream, and difficult to shoot. 

Leaving Charlotte Harbor and continuing down the coast, Estero 
Bay is entered by Bowditch's Pass. Here the sportsman will find him- 
self in a large and beautiful sheet of water, studded with islands, on 
many of which deer, duck, snipe, and curlew will be found in plenty. 
The sportsman should ascend Corkscrew River, a stream emptying 
into Estero Bay. On the banks of the stream he will find an almost 
untrodden field, where deer and turkey exist in great numbers, and a 
■locality that has not been haunted by Indians or whites. South of 
Estero Bay excellent hunting and shooting will be found; but in visiting 
this section, the sportsman must cut loose from civilization and its 
adjuncts. 

A railroad has been completed from Sanford to Kissimmee City, 
and this winter a line of steamers will be run down the Kissimmee 
River to Lake Okeechobee, opening up a new and hitherto almost 
unknown field to sportsmen. On the river, ducks are plentiful, and, at 
many points, deer will be found. By ascending Istokpoga Creek, 
Lake Istokpoga can be entered, and around it will be found a 
sporting locality worthy of a visit, 

FISHING. 

Fishing in Florida is truly worthy of the notice of the disciples of 
old Izaak. I have fished in many places in the United States and in 



104 Hints to Sportsmen — Fishing. 

other lands, and, in my opinion,,no place in tiie Union can equal 
Florida for piscatorial sports. I admit that many visit the State and 
leave it disappointed ; this is simply because they are captured by 
steamboat and hotel runners, and are mduced to visit localities where 
thousands have preceded them, and captured everything covered with 
scales. 

If the piscator desires to enjoy the comforts of first-class hotels and 
amusements of various kinds, he can remain in Jacksonville ; for in 
the streams emptying into the St. John's Siver, near the city, he will 
find fair fishing with the fly, live bait, or spinner. My friend, Mr. Fos- 
ter, of the St. Mark's Hotel, indulges in an occasional fish during the 
winter, and frequently returns with from fifteen to thirty pounds of 
bass and pickerel. At Jones' boat-yard, a good boat and boatman can 
be hired, and the best fishing points visited. If the piscator simply 
desires fishing from the docks or in mid-stream, he can fasten to catfish, 
ranging from one to thirty pounds ; and I can assure the uninitiated 
that, with rod and reel, a fifteen-pound "catty" will furnish consider- 
able sport. Mayport, a fishing village at the mouth of the river, can 
be reached daily by a comfortable steamer. If the weather is warm, 
fair sheepheading and good sea-trout fishing at the jetties near May- 
port, and on the oyster-bank in front of Pilot Town, can be indulged in. 
At the hotel here the fisherman will find a good room and bed and 
a fair table at a cost of from $1.50 to $2.00 per day. But the great 
fishing attraction of Northern Florida is the red snapper. From nine to 
twelve miles from the coast there exist patches of a rocky bottom, known 
as "banks." The banks are amply supplied with the gorgeously 
colored red snapper, weighing from twelve to thirty pounds. During 
a " snapper fish " there are frequently caught from three to six grouper 
weighing from fifteen to forty-five pounds. In addition, the banks are 
literally alive with sea bass, porgies, and other small fry, the latter 
affording capital sport for rod and reel. When the wind is from the 
west, even those who are usually the victims of mal de 77ier may 
safely visit the banks without contributing their mite to old Neptune. 
In Jacksonville there are two ocean tugs, one of them being the Seth 
Lo2i>, well known in New York harbor. The charter of the Low is 
$75 per day, and she can comfortably accommodate forty fishermen. 
I frequently indulge in snapper fishing, and would advise visitors to 
Florida to try it. 

At St. Augustine, fair sheepheading, and whiting fishing, can at 
times be secured, and occasionally channel bass and drum can be 
caught in the surf. At Matanzas Inlet, south of St. Augustine, fair, 
and, at times, excellent fishing can be had At New Smyrna, on the 
eastern coast, the winter resort of that genial gentleman and expert 
fisher, "S. C. C," much amusement is in store for the piscator. 
Sheephead, channel bass, and cavallii are plentiful, and, if variety is a 
desideratum, sea trout, skate, sea bass, croaker yellow tail, shark, and 
tarpon fishing can be indulged in. 

At Indian River Inlet, fishing is all the most ardent fisherman can 
desire. Fish exist in immense quantities and in endless variety. Dr. 



Hints to Sportsmen — Fishing. 105 

M., of St. Louis, visited me several years since, and requested me to 
aid him in the purchase of a suitable outfit for Indian River fishing. 
On his return the Doctor stated that I had "made a fool of him," and 
suggested that I should recommend the next applicant to provide him- 
self ''with a five-tined pitchfork, for, v/ith such a fishing-rod, he could 
fill a boat in a few minutes at the Inlet." My friend Q , late Secretary 
of State of Pennsylvania, visited Indian River Inlet in the early part 
of 1882. I requested him to ascertain how many sheephead he could 
capture within one hour. On his return he informed me that, with the 
aid of his fisherman to bait hooks and unhook fish, he landed fifty- 
three in one hour. The tributaries of the lower Indian River are 
stocked with large-mouthed and channel bass, and very large cavallii ; 
and the rod or hand-line fisherman can amuse himself until he is forced 
to cease landing fish from sheer exhaustion. Ki the outlet of Lake 
Worth, ten miles south of Jupiter Inlet, the fisherman will become satiated 
with sport. 

In some of the tributaries of the upper St John's River, fair bass, 
bream, and pickerel fishing will be found. In Lake Harney, above 
Enterprise, an industrious fisher may land from twenty to forty large- 
mouthed bass in a day. In the channels, lakes, and tributaries of the 
St. John's, above Lake Harney, anglers will tire of landing bass The 
Kissimmee River is noted for its bass fishing ; but, owing to their lack 
of fight and resistance, such fishing has no charm for the writer. I 
have not referred to the streams of West Florida, for, until recently, 
that section has not been accessible ; but I have reason to believe that 
the fishing in them is excellent. 

On the southwest coast of Florida, south and east of Cedar Keys, 
excellent fishing will be found at many points. In 1875 I visited 
Homosassa, and published the results of my observations in the Forest 
and Stream. Since then hundreds have visited the locality, and have 
been so loud in their praises of it, that I shall refrain from repeating the 
threadbare story. The inhabitants along the entire -coast claim that 
fishing is excellent in their neighborhoods ; but, in my opinion, the 
statements are " fishy," until Long Boat Inlet, Sarasota Bay, is reached, 
and at which point the fisherman can obtain good sport. In Billy Bow- 
legs Creek, a tributary of the Bay, superior fly fishing for cavallii 
will be found. But at Charlotte Harbor the fisherman will find fish 
worthy of his steel. At little Gasparilla Inlet, if the fisher uses min- 
nows or cut bait, on the young flood, with rod and reel or hand-line, 
he will become tired of landing sea trout, channel bass, cavallii, and 
bone-fish. Inside the inlet, along the shore, in water four to five feet 
deep, sheephead congregate in endless numbers. Fiddlers can be cap- 
tured in quantity on the beach, and, by using them for bait, sheephead 
weighing from one to three pounds can be hooked as fast as the bait 
touches bottom. One morning, at the old dock at Usisipi, I fished 
for a fry for breakfast, and in a few minutes landed nine distinct 
species of fish — among the rest, grouper, sea bass, angel fish, sea trout, 
and sheephead. At any of the inlets of the harbor fish can be cap- 
tured in quantity and in great variety. If a spoon or spinner is used 



io6 Hints to Sportsmen — l-'ishing. 

for trolling- at any of the passes, channel bass can be hooked ad libitum. 
From the pier at Punta Rassa the fisherman can surfeit himself with 
sport. My friend "Q." called on me en route to Punta Rassa, and, as 
he had caught fifty-three sheephead in one hour at Indian River Inlet, 
I requested him to ascertain what could be accomplished at the former 
point. Seated on the pier-head, with the assistance of his fisherman 
to bait lines and unhook fish, he landed fifty-six large sheephead in 
one hour. This feat was witnessed by my friend, Dr. R. J. Levis, of 
Philadelphia, and must not be pronounced a "fish story." To those 
who have been accustomed to fish for sheephead at Barnegat or Little 
Egg Harbor, N. J., such stories may sound ''fishy;" but, having 
tried it in Florida, I can assert that the number captured within 
a given ]X'riod will only depend on the rapidity of baiting, hauling up, 
and unhooking. If the fisherman tires of landing fish weighing from 
three to thirty pounds, he can indulge in the exercise of hauling in 
shark and jew-fish. Shark can be hooked in any number and size, 
and jew-fish sometimes weigh three hundred pounds. If variety is 
desired, parties can ascend the Caloosahatchie to Fort Myers, and 
replenish their stores. Proceeding a few miles further, until the 
islands are left astern, a point will be reached where cavallii and tarpon 
do most congregate. If the fisherman is disposed to tackle a streak 
of greased lightning, ami treat himself to an acrobatic performance, 
let him hook a tarpon. At many points these fish are plentiful, and 
measure from four to seven feet in length. It has been n;iy lot to 
hook many varieties of fish, and in many localities ; but, in my humble 
opinion, for running, jumping, and fighting, tarpon are A i. The 
fisherman who captures a tarpon will have something to talk about 
upon his return to the Nortli. Tiie mouths of tarpon are tender and 
hooks tear out. The margins of their jaws are supplied with minute 
teeth, which will cut a thick line. Experience in the capture of tarpon 
has taught me to use a stout cotton line, of 72 threads, and 6co feet 
long, and a snood composed of the. strongest piano wire. I make three 
links of the wire, and solder the ends of the same, 'i'o each link I firmly 
solder three No. 3 Virginia hooks. To the upper link 1 attach a piece 
of piano-wire two feet long, and to the proximal end of the wire a 
strong brass swivel. To a great extent tarpon are surface feeders, 
and I attach a suitable float from three to five feet above the hooks. 
For bait I use one-half of a large mullet. Three of the hooks are run 
through the mullet, and, in addition, I use a sail needle and thread, 
and tie the bait to the tackle at several points. A single hook and 
ordinary snoods are useless. Every summer those who fish for channel 
bass in the St. John's River, hook numbers of tarpon, which either tear 
away or cut off the snood. 

For fishing, camping, shooting, and climate, I prefer, Charlotte 
Harbor to any point in the State ; and I look forward to the day when 
I can leave Jacksonville in a palace-car and reach my old haunts inside 
of ten hours. My beard is white, my bald pate merely furnishes some 
microscopic down, and the crowfoot wrinkles on my face mark many 
a mile-stone on the war of life ; but I still look forward with bright 



Hints io Sport S7)icn — Fishiiig. 107 

anticipations to the hour when 1 shall use a spinner, cast a fly, and engage 
in another tussle with a tarpon or a jew-lish. 

Tackle for Florida fishing is an important matter. Down here fish 
have not been educated, and strength of tackle is more important than 
fineness. It matters but little to the fish whether the bait is attached 
to a mist-colored leader or a clothes-line. There are those who will 
always use fine tackle, but the majority believe in landing fish by 
"Scotch navigation." An unfortunate feature connected with Florida 
fishing is that at some points, as at Indian River Inlet or Punta Rassa, 
when the bait reaches bottom, there is no telling what kind or size of 
fish may appropriate it. When fishing for sea trout or channel bass, it 
is annoying to have a skate, tarpon, or shark appropriate the bait, and 
unceremoniously rob the fisherman of a hundred yards of cuttyhunk 
line. But experience will teach the piscator where and how to fish so 
as, to a great extent, to avoid such misfortune. 

Spinners and spoons can be used for the capture of a great variety 
of fish in Florida waters, more particularly black bass, channel bass, 
sea trout, cavallii, and pickerel. A spoon or spinner specially adapted 
to use in Florida waters has yet to be designed and constructed. 
Northern tackle dealers advertise, "Tackle for Florida Fishing ; " but 
the advertisers have not examined one of their spoons and spinners 
after it has been tugged at and pounded en the bottom of a boat by a 
cavallii weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds, or a channel bass rang- 
ing from fifteen to thirty-five pounds. It is but seldom that one of the 
fragile baits sold for " Florida fishing" will capture a second fish. I 
believe that a spoon will be constructed adapted to Florida fishing, but 
it is in the womb of the future. 

Shipley cS: Son, of 503 Commerce Street, Philadelphia, have had 
hooks manufactured to meet the requirements of fishing in this State. 
For the capture of channel bass, drum, and cavallii, I have thoroughly 
tested a hook sold by them, and known as "6750^, extra fine cast steel 
filed-pointed hooks " These hooks are made of the best of steel, 
are admirably finished and tempered, and in no instance have I found 
one of them to break or bend. Last summer, while engaged in bass 
fishing, during the course of one day I hooked and brought to 
gaff in a rapid tide-way six sharks from five to seven feet in length, 
and in no instance did a hook disappoint me. 1 have, at various times, 
tested many makes and patterns of hooks, but have found none to 
equal the one referred to. A hook that will not bend or break is a 
desideratum ; and for the accommodation of visitors I have induced 
a Jacksonville firm to keep a full line of these hooks. I have reason 
to believe that during the present season an artificial bait manufacturer 
in the North will construct for Florida fishing a spoon that will stand 
the racket. 

Fishermen visiting Florida should provide themselves with a split 
bamboo or other fly rod, and short, heavy bass rods, cuttyhurk lines, 
bass and lake flies and hackles. Spoons are very useful if they are 
strong and furnished with strong hooks. Ordinary tackle suited to 
ordinary requirements, of good quality, can be purchased here as 



io8 Hints to Sportsmen — Fishing. 

cheaply as in the North. For trolling with spoon or spinner, a large- 
sized braided cotton line will be found useful, and for tarpon fishing a 
good quality of cable-laid seventy-two strand cotton line, costing forty- 
five cents per pound, will serve an excellent purpose. 

Fishing in Florida cannot be equaled, but the fisherman must of 
necessity visit the points where fish exist. I'o accomplish this end, a 
suitable boat is a necessity. Boats with boatmen can be obtained at 
Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona, Titusville, Rock Ledge, Cedar 
Keys, Tampa, and Manatee. At Cedar Keys sloops and schooners 
of from four to six tons can be chartered at from five to six dol- 
lars per day. This will include captain, boy, small boat-stove, bed- 
ding and dishes. These vessels will comfortably accommodate four per^ 
sons. If more than two are in the party a second skift', costing about 
twelve dollars, should be purchased. The cost of provisions will depend 
on the appetites and tastes of the marooners ; but it must be remembered 
that the larder can be supplemented with venison, fish, oysters, and the 
best of clams. The southwest coast of Florida is shoal and protected 
nearly its entire length by islands or reefs, and, as breakers or undertow 
do not exist, it can be safely navigated in a small boat. My first boat 
trip on the coast, lasting sixty-three days, w^as made in a batteaux 
modeled boat, twenty-one feet long, and seven feet six inches beam. 
Based on experience, I had a cruising boat built by Mr. Chappell, of 
Jacksonville, and I have found her well adapted to the cruising require- 
ments of the State. Her length is sixteen feet, beam six feet, model 
rather full, with good entrance and run ; opening of cock-pit four by five 
feet, depth from deck timbers to floor nineteen inches, cat-rigged, draught 
when loaded, fifteen inches aft. In this boat I carry a two-hole stove ; 
when not in use it is stowed in a box, which furnishes a seat in the 
cock-pit. Three five-gallon water-kegs, two thin mattresses and blankets, 
provisions packed in starch-boxes and stowed well forward ; movable 
camp-chest, in which I stow several days' provisions, cups, saucers, 
knives, forks, milk-can, sugar-dish, etc. There is a capacious locker aft, 
in which I stow boat compass, powder, shot, clothing, and other impedi- 
menta. In the afterpart of the cock-pit 1 have a permanent seat in which 
I stow fire-wood. On each quarter under deck I have racks ; on one 
side are placed within reach gun and rifle, and on the other fishing-rods. 
By careful stowing I can carry necessary luggage and six weeks' pro- 
visions for two persons. I carry a tent made of ten-ounce duck, and 
when a storm threatens or at night I anchor, throw tent over boom, 
fasten edges to moulding on each side, place trees under boom aft, and 
haul throat halyards taut. Forward I have aprons, which I tie together 
and fasten to screw-eyes on deck. This gives me a protection 
with six feet of head room between lower part of boom and the cock- 
pit floor. When the time arrives to indulge in "tired nature's sweet 
restorer," I place water-kegs on stern sheets, stove-box and camp-chest, 
on deck under awning, and thereby obtain ample sleeping-room for 
two persons. I carry a fourteen-foot pushing-pole, lashed to under 
part of boom, and a pair of nine-foot oars. In my hands this boat has 
proved sea-worthy, having made a trip in her from Key West to 



Hints to Sportsmen — Fishing. ■ 109 

Cedar Keys, a portion of the way in a gale. I iiave found lier well 
adapted to the coast. For the many this boat would be too small, and I 
would advise the purchase or building of a boat from twenty to twenty- 
two feet long, provided with a light movable cabin extending well 
aft. A boat of this size will comfortably accommodate two persons, 
and at the end of the cruise she can be sold to advantage. Persons can 
ship boats to Jacksonville by schooner at a Jow figure, and Peter 
Jones will pay charges and care for them until the arrival of owners. 
If persons wish a boat built in Florida, they can have justice done them 
in Jacksonville. The most important points to be considered in the pur- 
chase or construction of a boat for Florida cruising are light draught, 
ample stowage room, and a large movable cabin. 



The Indian River. 



BY WALLACE R. MOSES. 



INDIAN RIVER, proper, begins about 28" 30' of latitude, and for 
the first ten miles of its southward course is paralleled by Mos- 
quito Lagoon, from which it is separated by a narrow strip of land 
from half a mile to three miles in width. Its course is SS.E. and 
NN.W., and it is one of the straightest bodies of water in this country. 
A line stretched from its northern limit to the narrows, a distance of 
seventy-five or eighty miles, would not touch either shore. It varies in 
width from seven-eighths of a mile to seven miles. At Titusville, the 
county seat of Brevard County, is the Bay of Biscay, the largest widen- 
ing of the river, pear-shaped, and about twelve miles long by seven 
wide. At the narrows it is broken for twelve or fifteen miles by low 
mangrove islands, so that the channels for boats are reduced to fifty 
yards or less in width at places ; then for thirty-five or forty miles 
further it resumes its average width of a mile, widening frequently into 
wider bays or coves The water is not as salt as that of the ocean. 
Beginning directly opposite Titusville, Merritt's Island, for thirty-five 
miles, separates Indian River into two parts. The easternmost is 
known as Banana or East Indian River. Banana Creek, twelve miles 
long, unites them on the north. The south end, or ''foot," of Merritt's 
Island terminates in a sharp point of coquina rock not over ten feet in 
width. The greatest breadth of the last ten or twelve miles of the 
island is not more than one-fourth of a mile, and the last mile it is re- 
duced to fifty yards. Banana River varies in width from seventy-five 
yards to three or four miles, and is navigable for the boats that sail 
Indian River. Fish teem in its waters. 

From the mouth of the St. Lucie River, south to Jupiter inlet and 
Lighthouse, the river is much narrouxi, and is known by the names of 
Jupiter Narrows, Hope Sound, and Jupit-^r River. 

The St. Lucie is the most important tributary, and is the proposed 
eastern terminus of the Okechobee Land & Drainage Company's 
canal, which, when completed, \vill give a water-course through Lake 
Okechobee and the Caloosahatchie River to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Means of transportation are at present somewhat meagre, and 
consequently expensive. Fifteen or eighteen lines of railroad have 
been incorporated, to run from various points to the head of the 



The Indian River. Ill 

river, but most of them are directed toward Titusville. Each new 
road, as it is incubated (on paper"), is to be the one that is sure to be 
buiit. Some eight or ten years ago these projected roads were firmly 
accepted as estabhshed facts, but the building of the first has yet to be 
accomplished. 

For a number of years freight was brought almost wholly by small 
steamers up the St. John's south from Sanford to Salt Lake (connected 
by a creek with the St. John's), then hauled seven miles to Titusville. 
Oranges and other exported produce went by the same tedious route, 
when there was high water in Salt Lake ; at other times to Deep Creek, 
near the north end of Lake Harney, a distance of twenty-five miles, 
and sometimes Enterprise, lorty miles from Titusville, was the depot. 

In the summer of 1880 a lake was discovered in the St. John's 
River prairie, two and a half miles west of Rockledge — a thriving com- 
munity of orange-growers on Indian River ; and after exploration it was 
found to connect by a creek with Lake Poinsett, an expansion of the 
St. John's. A steamboat route was soon established, and gave great 
relief to the whole river populace, and to the Lake Worth country as 
well, for all had been paying extortionate passenger, freight, and haul- 
ing rates by the Salt Lake route. 

During the past winter the Lake Poinsett route was favored by 
semi-weekly and tri-weekly steamers, and a daily line will be established 
this season. This new route has greatly stim.ulated the production of 
vegetables and fruit. 

Communication is established between Port Orange and Daytona, 
on the Halifax,and New Smyrna, on the Hillsboro, with Indian River, by 
small sail-boats ; — the semi-weekly mail and freight being carried by 
yachts from these and intervening post-ofifices to Titusville. 

A small steamer carries the mail twice a week from Titusville to 
Jupiter, at the extreme southern end of the Indian River system of 
lagoons, and return. From Jupiter it is carried stiU further to the Lake 
Worth settlements overland. A large express and freight business is 
also conducted by these boats, and many boats do nothing else. An 
attempt is being made to establish a tri-weekly mail service between 
the head of Indian River and Lake Worth. 

The best lands are usually found within a narrow strip, on either 
bank of the river, not averaging more than one mile wide on the west 
side, and less on the east. They consist of high and low hammock, 
with marl, coquina, and sand subsoils, and rolling pine lands. The 
bulk of the inferior land, west from the river, is flat pine. Some of 
these lands are high enough for cultivation, but have no drainage, and, 
being underlaid with sand pan or hard pan, hold the water. 

The largest body of hammock extends northward from Titusville to 
the head of the river, and, with sm^all , breaks here and there, to St. 
Augustine or beyond. The well-known Turnbull Swamp forms a 
portion of it. It has not been developed to any extent, although there 
are some fine groves in it at La Grange. Other large bodies lie adja- 
cent to the settlements of City Point and Rockledge. There are other 
extensive hammocks at and near Indian River Narrows; the St. Lucie 



112 



The Indian River. 



River and Hope Sound, and isolated hammocks of limited area, may 
be found, improved and otherwise, along the entire length of the 
river. 

The pine lands along the Indian River are thin, and the timber 
small and low. There are some good bodies of land on Merritt's 
Island, that, with fertilizing, are well adapted to the growth of pine- 
apples, and are being thus developed. 

The general characteristics of the high lands are sandy and leachy, 
making it difficult to grow successfully anything but fruits. The low 
hammocks produce excellent crops of vegetableF, 

Prices of land vary from five dollars to fifty dollars per acre, and 
some very choice lots, near settlements, are held as high as two hundred 
dollars per acre. 

There are no vacant desirable State or United States lands imme- 
diately on the river. 

Oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, pineapples, guavas, mangoes, scup- 
pernong and other grapes, corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, and almost 
every kind of vegetables and strawberries are raised along the Indian 
River. Oranges, lemons, pineapples, mangoes, and guavas, only, are 
considered profitable. Many other tropical and semi-tropical fruits can 
undoubtedly be raised ; but as yet they have received but little atten- 
tion. Much of the land is such that, unless trees or plants have good 
tap roots, they suft'er for lack of moisture. The pineapple seems to be 
an exception to some extent, though a drought, at cei'tain periods of its 
growth, dwarfs the fruit. 

The Indian River oranges are noted for their superiority, and are 
the chief staple raised. Pineapples are being extensively cultivated, 
and, when of choice variety, they bring remunerative prices. This in- 
dustry bids fair to assume large proportions in the near future. The 
lands and climate on the east side are peculiarly well adapted to their 
growth, and the acreage is being largely extended. Guavas can be 
raised in abundance ; but, owing to their perishable nature, they require 
more rapid transportation to market than now exists. Mangoes are a 
fine fruit, and can be raised profitably wherever the pineapple succeeds, 
and possibly elsewhere. They are rare as yet. 

Game, except where the country is thickly settled, is tolerably 
abundant on the Indian River. Ducks abounded last winter. The 
choice varieties can be found in the marshes from the head of the river 
south on the east side. The marshes opposite Titusville and Aurantia 
have long been celebrated for their duck-shooting, and in them may be 
found teal, mallards, widgeon, blue-bills, red-heads, and occasionally a 
canvas-back. Coot and black, or " raft ducks," can be found by the 
million. The raft duck are so called from their habit of collecting to- 
gether in vast numbers, so that at a mile or so they appear like a raft 
of timber floating on the water. They are seen in flocks covering acres 
in extent. The duck is proverbially a wary game bird, and Indian 
River ducks are no exception to the rule. It is difficult at times to get 
within ordinary gun-shot — 40 to 60 yards — as they usually rise at about 
80 yards from the advancing sail or row boat, settling shortly, to re- 



The Indian River. 1 1 3 

peat as before. One can frequently sail for miles amidst a constantly 
recurring whirr of rising ducks. 

Bear can be found in limited quantities at most all seasons of the 
year, and they frequently swim the riv^ at the Narrows. They are very 
fond of turtle eggs, which are laid in June and July, principally, on the 
ocean beach. 

The loggerhead turtle is by no means to be despised as game ; 
they weigh from 300 to 500 pounds, and, if properly dressed, provide 
fair steaks, resembling buffalo meat. The eggs are cooked in various 
ways, of which the most popular is to beat them thoroughly, add pep- 
per, salt, fine-chopped onions, flour, and water ; stir together, and fry. 
This makes a rich and palatable dish. The shell of the t%^ is flexible, 
and can be bent and indented without breaking. The turtle, after 
starting to lay, is so intent upon her business that nothing of an ordi- 
nary nature disturbs her until she has finished. She chooses a place 
just above high-water mark in v/hich to dig a hole Using her flippers, 
she scoops out the sand to the depth of eighteen to twenty-four inches, 
and in this nest proceeds to deposit her eggs. It is an easy matter, 
after she has fairly begun laying, to approach and remove the eggs as 
fast as they are dropped, and often a hat or basket is placed in the 
nest so that the .eggs may be removed without disturbing her ladyship. 
Green turtle are caught in seines stretched between stakes just inside 
Indian River Inlet in the winter season. They are sent to the North, 
and net the catcher from three to eight cents per pound gross weight. 

Deer can be found in large numbers ; only go where they are. At 
some places they are a pest, particularly those known as field deer. 
No ordinary fence will keep them out, and many are the devices that 
have been tried to trap them. Guns and dogs, separate or combined, 
and a steady warfare, are the surest methods The Indians are of 
some benefit, as they frequently travel north from the Everglades, kill- 
ing large numbers, and disposing of the hides and meat at the settle- 
ments of St. Lucie, Eau Gallic, Rockledge, City Point, and Titusville. 

City-bred sportsmen may think that South Florida needs a game 
law to protect her deer ; but if they had had two or three successive 
seasons' struggle with them to see' which should get the most potatoes, 
when a large part of their living, and that of their stock, depended on 
this crop, as sometimes happens, they would possibly change their 
minds. The old bucks will paw the potato-beds and destroy a large 
number besides what they eat, and, if they have families of four or five 
does and fawns, they can make potatoes very scarce in a short time. 

Wildcat, panther, foxes, squirrels, oppossums, raccoon, turkey, quail, 
curlew, plover, snipe, yellow-legs, and sand-pipers are all to be found 
on the Indian River. Otter have been quite plentiful for a year past, 
and, at the prices quoted tor skins, trapping them ought to be a profit- 
able business. 

Line fishing is good at Indian River and Jupiter Inlets ; red snap- 
per, red and black bass, pompano, cavallii, sheepshead, and sailors 
choice are the principal and best fish. Mullet can be found in large 
quantities. They are fattest and best from June to October. They are 



114 



The Indian River. 



caught only by seines or cast nets. Sharks and porpoises are numer- 
ous at ihe inlets, and occasiona-lly a five or six foot shark may be 
found in the river ; but I have never heard of any one bein^r injured 
by them. , 

Oysters abound all through Indian River Narrows and south to Fort 
Capron for some twenty or twenty-five miles. They are of large size 
and exquisite flavor when fat, or removed and bedded. They can be 
bought at an average of one dollar per barrel at Titusville and Rock- 
ledge during the winter. 

The accommodations for sportsmen are fairly good. Good hotels 
and boarding-houses can be found at all of the principal settlements, 
though the demand at times exceeds the supply Good yachts, accom- 
panied by a competent hunter and guide, \. io usually is the skipper 
and owner, can be engaged at fairly reasonable rates. These boats are 
fitted with small cabins, and sometimes with a wood or oil stove. 
The right kind of a boat will also carry a flat-bottomed skiff for ascend- 
ing shallow creeks and bayous. 

Hotel charges are from %2 to %t, per day, and from !$io to $15 per 
week. Boarding-houses less. 

On the Indian River the cost of living is less than hi most sec- 
tions of Florida. There are a number of good gtores and some 
very poor ones in the several settlements. Prices range about the 
same as in most Southern villages, and are less in some particulars. 
Rents are nominal ; most residents own their land and buildings. 
Many of the latter are primitive, but answer for the climate. Some 
good houses and stores are being built, evidencing an increased pros- 
perity and an influx of ready money from the outside world. Fresh 
meat is scarce, except in winter, at the settlements. Price ranges 
from eight to fifteen cents per pound for beef and venison. 

Not a great deal of money has been spent heretofore in articles of 
dress, but the rapidly-increasing influx of winter visitors is gradually 
causing a more extravagant expenditure in that line. 

During eight months in the year the general verdict seems to be 
that the climate of the Indian River country is as near perfection as 
can be found, and during the remaining four months it is not bad, 
and is much pleasanter than in the interior of many of the Southern or 
even Northern States. 

The mercury at noon-time, during the hottest weather, rarely gets 
above 96", and no existing record shows it to have gone to 100^ in the 
shade. The usual summer range is from 85'' to 95". These figures 
do not represent here the oppressiveness that the same figures do in- 
land or in places where there is a still heat. On Indian River, and pre- 
sumably on the wliole easiern coast of Florida, the winds blow steadily 
from the ocean nearly the whole summer, principally from the south- 
east. Even very hot days, with light, off-shore winds, are generally fol- 
lowed by cool nights, in which that terrible sultriness known to some 
sections is rarely felt. One of the wonderful peculiarities of Florida is 
the rapid radiation and dispersion of heat after nightfall 

The winter average is about 70" or 7c:'-\ It i/oes as low as xz^ for 



The Indian Kiver. !K 

a few hours nearly every winter on some portion of the river, and as 
high as 85'^. Frost is known, but rarely a freeze. One, in 1S81. and 
another :n 1883, did some damage on the west bank of the river. On 
Merritt's Island and the beach ridge,,^ however, anywhere within 200 
yards of the river, frost rarely occurs. This coast is therefore c^.■ 
pecially adapted to pineapple and other tropical fruit culture. 

The prevailing winds are the southeast trade winds in summer, and 
west, northwest, and north in winter. They blow so regularly that advan- 
tage is frequently taken of the fact by boatmen to regulate their trips up 
and down the river. Occasionally a miscalculation is made, and a man 
finds himself a hundred miles from home with a howling headwind that 
sometimes runs on a nine days' schedule from the northwest. 

Very destructive gales have recurred bi-annually for a number of 
years. The year 1882 was an exception. These gales are in fact hurri- 
canes, and are said to rise in the West Indies. They usually come 
from the eastward, and blow from twelve to seventy-two hours. Trees, 
fences, and houses that are not well anchored or protected by timbers 
are badly demoralized and scattered. 

August, September, and October are the gale months, or, in native 
parlance, the '-galey season." October 25th is the latest that one has 
been known to occur. The October gales are usually followed by a 
violent but short-lived return gale from the northwest. 

The experienced resident hauls out his yacht or flat-bottorned boat 
during this season, as no ordinary anchor or rope will hold it. 

It may well be understood and believed that few rivers afford such 
advantages for yachting as does this most fascinating stream. No 
tide nor current interferes with the progress of the boat. This is caused 
by the smallness of the ocean inlets and the narrows between them. 
Everybody living directly on the river owns a craft of some sort, and 
regattas on fixed dates are favorite diversions, while scrub racing is con- 
tinually going on, the river being the grand highway of the country ; 
roads, except near the settlements, being used but little. Most of the 
Indian River boats are flat-bottomed and provided with centre-boards. 
They range froni fifteen to forty feet in length ; and all rigs are repre- 
sented by them. The sharpie model, carrying two leg-of-mutton sails, 
is quite a favorite, as it is roomy and of light draft. 

In this connection it may not be inappropriate t(j mention the "trade 
boats" which ply the river. They are a useful class, and carry directh 
to the houses of the people what they may require in good variety and 
quality of all kinds of groceries and clry-goods. What they do not have 
in stock will be brought by order. They perform the same service as 
the peddlers' carts in the North. 

As in all warm climates, insects of various kinds, hues and habits, 
may be found (or will find you). Among the most industrious of them„ 
is the mosquito. The flea also is ever-present. Mosquitoes during the 
summer are troublesome over most of the river at night, though 
some localities are free from them. They are becoming less as the 
population increases. Among the Mangrove islands they are very numer- 
ous, and no one should venture there without a mosquito bar. 



1 1 6 The Indian Rwer. 

From the Narrows south to Fort Capron, or St. Lucie, 'as the post- 
office is named, the river is broad, and its navigation comparatively easy ; 
on this run of about fifteen miles no settlements are seen except a couple 
oflog houses on the eastern shore and the comical little shanty, perched 
on piles, of Tom Zeller's, the turtle fisher, on the west bank, five miles 
above St. Lucie. 

Opposite St. Lucie is the Indian River Inlet, through which trading 
schooners from Jacksonville find their way after their ocean voyage. At 
Fort Capron Mrs. Hogg keeps a store, the last one to be found as the 
traveler journeys southward. South of this point all is plain sailing as f^ir 
as Jupiter Narrows, about twenty miles f'urther on. Before these are 
reached, Eden and Waveland, both post-offices, and the mouth of the St. 
Lucie River, are passed on the right hand or western side. (3n the eastern 
or left hand side the most interesting point on this run is the ' ' Cuba Place," 
where Old joe has always on hand, and for sale, an abundant supply of 
fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs and chickens. Here may be seen the first 
■ bearing cocoa-nut palms that are to be found on the river, and here, too, is 
an extensive banana plantation. 

A few miles beyond the Cuba Place, on the same side of the river, is 
House of Refuge No. 2, a government station, in charge of Mr. David 
Brown, by whom visitors are most hospitably entertained. Mr. Brov;n, 
his wife, daughters, son and son-in-law, form the most southerly chapter 
of the St. Nicholas Agassiz Association, and have contributed to it some 
of its most valuable papers and specimens. Here may be obtained beauti- 
ful pelican skins, which are so highly prized by Northern ladies for making 
bonnets, mufts, tippets, etc. 

From this point south to Jupiter Light, eighteen miles, navigation is 
the most intricate, difficult and dangerous on the whole Indian River, and 
it should not be undertaken without a pilot. On the St. Lucie River, and 
in the waters between its mouth and Jupiter, may still be found the IMantee 
or Sea Cow, rarest of all North American marine animals. Jupiter is the 
extreme southern point of the Indian River system of lagoons, and here 
the Lokohatchie River, draining the eastern everglades, flows into the sea. 
and forms Jupiter Inlet, out of which vessels bound for Lake Worth must 
pass before undertaking the ten mile run down the coast to Lake Worth 
Inlet. Jupiter is also the most southerly point of steamboat navigation on 
the east coast. 

LAKE WORTH. 

Besides the outside route to Lake Worth, there is an inside passage 
through the saw grass, along the edge of the everglades, that is practicable 
for sm.all boats if their crews have stout arms, long poles, and know the 
way. A stranger would become speedily lost in the intricacies of the 
swamps, amid which a thousand small tortuous streams meanller. Many 
of these are larger, for a considerable distance, than the one that should 
be taken, but they all finally dwindle to nothingness in the impenetrable 
saw grass. These overflowed fresh water lands are separated from the salt 
waters of Lake Worth by a narrow Sandy Ridge, across which an old, 



Lake WortJi. 1 1 j 

rickety, wooden tramway offers an opportunit}- for carrjing small boats. 
Although the distance from Jui. iter by this pasl^age is only about twelve 
miles, the trip is so extremely diflicult that last winter two small boats, in 
one uf which the editor of this Annual worked his passage, were three 
days in making it, and they were three days of the most exhaustive labor 
and the greatest discomfort. 

The outside route to Lake Worth is also fraught with difficulty and some 
peril, for the bar across its Inlet is one of the shoalest and most dangerous 
to cross on the entire coast. When it is successfully passed, and the 
traveler finds himself floating in safety over the placid waters of the lake, 
he feels repaid for all he has undergone even before he lands, for he 
has reached the most delightful place on the eastern coast and one of the 
most beautiful in Florida. 

The lake is a salt water lagoon, about twenty --five miles long, and varv- 
ing from hnlf a mile to two miles in width. Its western shore is moderately 
h'gh, and is covered with a pine forest, stretching away to a series of fresh 
water lakes, and the overflowed lands of the "Big Saw Grass" surrounding 
Lake Okeechobee. This country is uninhabited and abounds in o-ame 
deer, bear, panther, wild cat, coons, "possums and turkeys. The glory of 
Lake Worth does not, iiov/ever, lie in its western shore, but in the narrow 
strip of land that separates it from the ocean on the east, and on which is 
the seitiement. This strip is nowhere more than half a mile wide • but 
presenting a rocky £ice to the lake, it slopes gently back until a hei'>ht of 
forty feet is attained, and then slopes as gently downward to the bold bluft' 
that confronts the ocean. The foundation of this ridge is a porous lime 
rock, called by the settlers "coralline," and it is covered by a deposit of 
black vegetable mould, several feet in depth, that supports a most mag- 
nificent tropical growth. Some fifteen families of Northern people have 
settled along this ridge, and are devoting themselves to the raising of cocoa 
nuts, pine-apples, bananas, guavas, tomatoes and potatoes, besides all 
sorts of niinur tropical fruits, and a great variety of vegetables for their own 
use. So rich and productive is the soil, that, with the crudest of cultiva- 
tion, one grower, from an acre of ground, shipped over $500 worth of 
tomatoes last season, besides raising two other crops on the same ground 
during the year. When they can obtain such results, it is no wonder that 
the owners of this land hold it at from $100 to |200 per acre, and offer 
very little of it for sale even at these prices. 

The settlement has no roads, the only approach to one being a trail cut 
through the dense jungle of rubber trees, palms, mastiCs, and a hundred 
other varieties of tropical trees, bound together by giant lianas, and a mesh 
of smaller vines, that form the natural growth. Only occasional gleams of 
sunlight ever penetrate this woodland path, and its dark, silent depths are 
charming, after the glare of the lake. The place of teams is taken by boats, 
of which every settler owns at least one, that he uses for all purposes of 
communication and transportation with other parts of the settlement. 
Although Lake Worth has a post-office and a hotel, it has no store, nor does 
it feel the need of one, as it is in direct communication with Jacksonville 
by means of weekly schooners. The captains of these take orders from 
the settlers for everything needed, from a bar of soap to a barrel of flour 



ii3 Lake Worth. 

or from a pair of shoes to a silk dress, and fill them in the Jacksonville 
stores. 

The Gulf Stream flows so close to the coast at this point, that it is never 
more than a mile from shore, and an easterly wind drives its waters into 
the inlet. Lake Worth is in the same latitude as the Bahamas, and only 
separated from them by fifty miles of ocean. The lowest point ever touched 
by the mercury in a thermometer, on its eastern shore, is 43°, and its 
average winter temperature is 70'-'. Whether it is from its proximity to the 
Gulf Stream or from other causes, is not knovvm — but certain it is that no 
other place in Florida offers such magnificent fishing grounds as the v/aters 
inside and outside of Lake Worth Inlet. Here the magnificent pompano 
are as common as catfish off the Jacksonville docks ; and king fish, blue 
fish, sheepshead, yellow tails, grunts, snappers, sea bass, cavallii, moon fish, 
and a score of other varieties, may be had in such prodigious quan- 
tities that the most enthusiastic angler becomes tired of the sport of catch- 
ing them. Green and loggerhead turtles also abound in this favored 
locality, and conchs may be picked up by the thousands on the bar. 

Alreadv several fine winter residences have been erected at Lake Worth, 
and, with slightly improved facilities for reaching it, it will become one of 
the most popular, as it is already one of the most charming, of known 
winter resorts. At present the schooners "Mary B." and "Bessie B." make 
weekly trips outside, from Jacksonville to Lake Worth, the run occupying 
two or three days. From Rockledge the schooner " Illinois'" makes 
weekly trips down the Indian River to Lake Worth, offering a pleasanter 
method of travel than by the irregular steimer to Jupiter. At Jupiter a 
sort of a hotel has been established on the old Government sloop "Stead- 
fast," for the benefit of Lake Worth travelers. 



up the Ocklawaka. 



TO visitor to Florida who has any regard for his own peace of mind 
can leave the State without having made the trip up the Ocklawaha 
River, at lea^^t to Silver Spring. He may have explored every 
other river in the State from its source to its mouth, but if he has 
neglected this one river, his friends who have sailed its "crooked waters" 
will insist upon it that he has failed to see the chief object of interest, and 
really knows nothing of Florida. In itself the Ocklawaha is no more 
remarkable than a dozen other rivers in the State, nor is Silver Spring more 
wonderful than several others which are hardly every visited ; but ihev 
come within the radius of the main line of winter travel, while the others 
do not. However much people may enthuse over the delights of the wil- 
derness, and announce their love of "roughing it," the popular routes of 
travel are always those upon which are the most comfortable sleeping 
accommodations and the best set tables. In Florida the great highway of 
travel is the St. Johns River, up which boats run three hundred miles 
south from Jacksonville. 

A night's stay in Palatka is imperative, because the boats from Jackson- 
ville reach there in the afternoon, and the Ocklawaha boats leave there in 
the morning. So at Palatka the traveler spends a night, and by nine o'clock 
next morning is ready and anxious for his trij) up the Ocklawaha. 

The Ocklawaha River boats, five in number, are built expressly for the 
navigation of this particular stream, and are all alike in general features. 
They are short, narrow, flat-bottomed, built without guirds, low and 
compact. Their ch;muoys rise but little above the roof of the pilot house, 
in front of which, or on the lower deck forward, are the seats which the 
passengers occupy ;ill day, and far into the night, while viewing the novel 
scenes constantly presented during the journey. As compared with the 
rude, awkward crait of a few years ago, these boats are models of comfort, 
and are admirably fitted for the service they perform. They are all of the 
stern-wheel, or ' wheelbarrow" pattern, each wheel being so enclosed as 
to be protected from contact with overhanging trees or branches. Most of 
them bear Indi.vn names, such as Osceola, Okakumkee, Astatula, or Tus- 
kawilla ; and often during the winter the rush of travel is so great that three 
of them filled with passengers leave Palatka at the same time. 

Starting at nine o'clock in the morning, the boat, with her merry com- 
panv — Wx Ocklawaha River travelers are proverbially jolly souls — -steams 
for three hours up the St. Johns, to Welaka, on the left bank, opposite 



I20 Up the Ocklawaha. 

which the "crooked water, " which is the meaning of the Indian word, 
" Ocklawaha," debouches into the larger stream, and here the trip really 
begins. The moment the broad St. Johns is left behind, the character of 
the scenery changes. Entering the narrow, wonderfully tortuous channel, 
winding through vast cypress swamps, and bordered by a dense growth of 
magnificent trees hung with moss and interlaced with a maze of vines and 
creepers, is like plunging from an open clearing into a dark forest. Palms 
and other strange forms of semi-tropic vegetation fascinate the eye, and 
new and curious specimens of animal life present objects of never-fliiling 
interest. The alhgator, which to Northerners is the greatest curiosity in 
Florida, and which is now rarely seen from the decks ot the St. Jolms 
River boats, here becomes common, and at length fails to arouse any great 
amount of interest. So clear is the water, that frequently the "'gator," 
startled from his siesta among the "bonnets" or rushes on the bank, can 
be seen making his way far beneath the surface to a more secure retreat. 
Shooting from the deck of the steamer, which was allowed during the 
earlier days of Ocklawaha navigation, became such a nuisance, and so 
threatened the destruction of some of the leading attractions of the river, 
that it is now strictly prohibited, much to the disgust of those fledgeling 
sportsmen who look upon every species of undomesticated bird or beast as 
their legitimate target, and to the satisfaction of all sensible travelers. 

Although ihe alligator is the star and leading attraction in this grand 
spectacle, he is ably supported by a select feathered troupe, which are to be 
seen at their best in these watery fastnesses. Most beautil'ul of these is the 
great snowy heron, which, vvith his companion, the great blue heron, is 
such a treasure to the curiosity dealers, and works up so effectively into a 
fire screen. At every bend, perched upon some dead limb, is seen the 
comical water-turkey or snake-bird, stretching his long neck, and ducking 
his head in a ridiculous state of indecision as to whether he shall fly or 
not, and fhially solving the problem by dropping like a shot into the liver, 
and disappearing beneath its surface. His cousin, the cormorant, shares 
his indecision, and affords almost as much amusement as the water-turkey 
by his frantic and erratic eftbrts to escape the approaching steamer. The 
speckled limpkin attracts attention at once by the peculiarly discordant 
cry, not unlike the laugh of a hyena, with which he makes his presence 
known, and which may be heard echoing through the dismal swamps 
at all hours of the day and night. A limpkin's q.%% is about the size of a 
hen's ^%%, and very good to eat. Beside these, are the ibis and egret, the 
crane, curlew and many others, curious in form and habit. 

The various landings along the river afford but little idea ot the country 
beyond, as most of them are merely shed-like warehouses, built upon 
shaky little wharves, and connected with the mainland by roads of corduroy 
laid through the swamps. They bear such names as Sunday BlufT, Limpkin 
Bluff, Forty-foot Bluff, lola, Gores, Eureka, and Duriso's, and the few 
cadaverous looking natives, whose straight, lank hair and dirty iiomespun 
suits form prominent features at each landing, do not convey in their forms 
or countenances any reassuring impressions as to the healthfulness of the 
adjacent country. But who cares for malaria or chills and fevers when on 
a trip up the Ocklawaha ? TIt v ( an't be contracted in one d ly, and none 



up the OcklazvaJia. 121 

of the gay party of tourists has got to live there ; so, with a word of pity 
for the unfortunates who must make this their home from one year's end to 
the other, the subject is dropped, and attention is again directed to the 
river. 

A steady subject of inquiry is, "When shall we pass the down boats ? " 
And when, about sunset, their whistles are heard and answered, all hands 
crowd to the best positions for seeing and exchanging greetings with the 
returning tourists as they pass. If the place of meeting is very narrow, as 
is generally the case, the upward-bound boats hug the bank closely, and 
wait for the others to pass. As the boat on which we were making our 
first trip up the river thus drew to one side to give the others room, a com- 
ical accident occurred that came very near being serious. Beside us sat an 
enthusiastic old gentleman, whose jolly face and bald head were sur- 
mounted by a tall and very shiny silk hat. With him were his two pretty 
daughters, and the three were in a state of great excitement over the meet- 
ing of the down boat, on which they expected to see friends. As soon as 
she came in sight they began to wave their handkerchiefs. The old gen- 
tleman, having attached his to a gold-headed cane, was waving it high 
above the others, when suddenly there was ajar of the boat, a crash over- 
head, and from a tall cypress, into which the up boat had run while hug- 
ging the bank too closely, a dead limb came tumbling. It struck fairly on 
the top of the shiny silk hat, drove it down over the beaming face, and scat- 
tered twigs and splinters over the rest of the passengers. In the confusion 
which followed, the down boat passed unheeded. Nobody was hurt, and 
it was as good as a play to see those two pretty girls strive to release their 
father from the envelopment of that now disreputable-looking silk tile. 
The lining caught on his rather prominent nose, and every attempt to lift 
the hat elicited a howl of pain from the old gentleman, and much vigorous 
language. At length a release was effected by the aid of a ready penknife, 
and soon afterward, with a swollen nose, and disguised by an old slouch 
felt hat borrowed from the captain, the respectable father of the pretty girls 
presented the typical aspect of a venerable rake, just emerged from.a rough- 
and-tumble mel^e. 

The greatest enjoyment of a trip up the Ocklawaha comes after the sun 
has set, and the scenery is enveloped in the blackness of a dark night. A 
burning brand is thrust among the resinous light-wood knots that fill an 
iron fire-pan on top of the pilot-house. A burst of flame springs forth, and 
discloses by its yellow glare a scene so weird and uncanny as to baffle de- 
scription. The black water shimmering in the fire-light, the gaunt tree 
trunks rearing themselves into an upper vagueness, from which depends, 
straight and motionless, the cerement-like hangings of gray moss, the dark 
lagoons penetrating the swamps, and bordered by fantastically horrible 
forms, the hurried flight of startled night-birds, all combine to form a 
picture that will remain forever indelibly impressed upon the minds of those 
who view it. The passengers involuntarily gather closer together, and talk 
in more subdued tones, as they gaze upon the rapid unfolding of the Nvon- 
derful panorama, which fascinates them as by a spell. Suddenly a few 
chords are struck from a banjo on the lower deck, and a dozen rough but 
melodious voices break out in some old plantation melody abounding in 



122 Up I he OckUnvaha. 

minors and long-drawn refrains, and in perfect harmony with the hour and 
surroundings. One of these songs was so similar to those sung by the 
Arab boatmen on the Nile, that for the moment the writer felt himself to be 
sitting on the little deck of a dahabeeyah, floating down with the smooth 
current of the majestic Egyptian river. The first few lines were 

"All night long, 

Jesa, Jesa, 
On my knees, 

Jesa, Jesa, 
Begging God, 

Jesa, Jesa, 
To gib me ease, 

Jesa, Jesa.'" 

The refrain, '' Jesa, Jesa,'" running through the song in a base monotone, 
was identical \vith the "Allah, Allah,' or " Moosa, Moosa," of the Arabs, 
and lent the peculiar rhythmical drone that forms so prominent a feature 
of Oriental melodies. 

A few of the passengers remain on deck undl nearly midnight to witness 
the passage of the "gate of the Ocklawaha," which is simply the passing of 
the steamer through a channel so narrow that there is barely room for it, 
and bounded on either side by an immense cypress tree : but the majority 
retire early in order to be up in the morning in dme to see the " Run." 

Soon after daylight the boat leaves the river, and, turning sharply to the 
right, enters the " Run," a stream so clear that it is like a body of crystal 
glass confined by wooded banks. For nine miles the steamer makes her 
way against the swift current of the " Run." Its bottom is of white sand, 
from which spring long feathery grasses and other beautiful forms of marine 
vegetation, that wave in the transparent waters as though tossed by currents 
of air. At the end of the nine miles the boat glides over the bosom of 
Silver Spring, and runs up to a little wharf on its further shore. A cush- 
ioned row-boat awaits the tourist who would still further explore the won- 
drous beauties of the spring, and in a moment after entering it he 
experiences all the sensations of an aeronaut. His boat has become an 
air-ship, and is floating in thinnest ether, high above the world, down upon 
which he gazes. So still is the water, and so wonderfully distinct the 
shadows, that a photograph taken of some object upon the bank of the 
spring is equally accurate whether inverted or held upright. 

Silver Spring is wonderful, and as well worth seeing as though it were 
the only one of its kind in the State, and it well repays the two hours al- 
lotted to its inspection. At the end of this time the traveler either returns 
to his boat, which is prepared for the return trip to Paiaika, or takes the 
cars, and reaches Palatka in a few hours, instead of the next morning, as 
will be the case with the boat. 

Some idea of the crookedness of tlie Ocklawaha may be gained by com- 
paring the distance traveled by the steamers between Palatka and Oka- 
humkee, the head of navigation, which is 275 miles, with that of an air- 
line, which would be but eighty. Very truly does the name " crooked 
water" apply to this mysterious river; but in this very crookedness lies its 
chief charm, whxh is that of constant anticipation. 



THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: FASCHA FLORIDA. 



A JJREAM OF PONCE DE LEON. 



I. 

A STORY of Ponce de Leon, 

A voyager, withered and old, 
Who came to the sunny Antilles, 

In quest of a country of gold. 
He was wafted past islands of spices. 

As bright as the Emerald seas. 
Where all the forests seem singing. 

So thick were the birds on the trees ; 
Tiie sea was as clear as the azure, 

And so deep and so pure was the sky 
That the jasper-walled city seemed shin- 
ing 

Just out of the reach of the eye. 
By day his light canvas he shifted, 

And rounded strange harbors and 
bars ; 
By night, on the full tides he drifted, 

'Neath the low-hanging lamps of the 
stars. 
Near the glimmering gates of the sunset, 

In the twilight empurpled and 'dim, 
The sailors uplifted their voices. 

And sang to the Virgin a hymn. 
"Thank the Lord !" said De Leon, the 
sailor. 

At the close of the rounded refrain ; 
"Thank the Lord, the Almighty, who 
blesses 

The ocean-swept banner of Spain ! 
The shadowy world is behind us. 

The shining Cipango, before ; 
Each morning the sun rises brighter 

On ocean, and island, and shore. 
And still shall our spirits grow lighter, 

As prospects more glowing unfold : 
Then on, merry men ! to Cipango, 

To the west, and the regions of gold ! " 

II. 
There came to De Leon, the sailor. 

Some Indian sages, who told 
Of a region so bright that the waters 

Were sprinkled with islands of gold. 
And they added : " The leafy Bimini, 

A fair land of grottos and bowers. 
Is there ; and a wonderful fotmtain 

Upsprings from its gardens of flowers. 
That fountain gives life to the dying, 

And youth to the aged restores ; 
They flourish in beauty eternal, 

\Vho set but their foot on its shores I " 
Then answered De Leon, the sailor : 

" I am withered, and wrinkled, and old; 



I would rather discover that fountain, 
Than acountry of diamonds and gold." 

III. 
Away sailed De Leon, the sailor. 

Away with a wonderful glee. 
Till the birds were more rare in the azure, 

The dolphins more rare in the sea ; 
Away from the shady Bahamas, 

Over waters no sailor had seen. 
Till again on his wondering vision, 

Rose clustering islands of green. 
Still onward he sped till the breezes 

Were laden with odors, and lo ! 
A country embedded with flowers, 

A country with rivers aglow ! 
More bright than the sunny Antilles, 

More fair than the shady Azores. 
"Thank the Lord !" said De Leon, the 
sailor. 

As feasted his e3'e on the shores, 
" We have come to a region, my brothers. 

More lovely than earth, of a truth ; 
And here is the life-giving fountain, — 

The beautiful fountain of youth." 

IV. 

Then landed De Leon, the sailor. 

Unfurled his old banner, and sung ; 
But he felt very wrinkled and withered. 

All around was so fresh and so young. 
The palms, ever-verdant, were blooming, 

Their blossoms e'en margined the 
seas \ 
O'er the streams of the forests, bright 
flowers 

Hung deep from the branches of trees. 
" 'T is Easter." exclaimed the old sailor ; 

His heart was with rapture aflame ; 
And he said : " Be the name of this 
region 

As Florida given to fame. 
'T is a fair, a delectable country, 

More lovely than earth, of a truth ; 
I soon shall partake of the fountain, — 

The beautiful fountain of youth ! " 

V. 

But wandered De Leon, the sailor. 
In search of that fountain in vain ; 

No waters were there to restore him 
To freshness and beauty again. 

And his anchor he lifted, and murmured. 
As the tears gathered fast in his eve, 



124 



The Florida Rose. 



" I must leave this fair land of the 
flowers, 
Go back o'er the ocean, and die." 
Then back by the dreary Tortugas, 

And back by the shady Azores. 
He was borne on the storm-smitten 
waters 
To the calm of his own native shores. 
And that he grew older and older. 

His footsteps enfeebled gave proof ; 
Still he thirsted in dreams for the fount- 
ain, — 
The beautiful fountain of youth. 

VI. 

One day the old sailor lay dying 

On the shores of a tropical isle, 
And hisheart was enkindled with rapture. 

And his face lighted up with a smile. 
He thought of the sunny Antilles, 

He thought of the shady Azores, 
He thought of the dreamy Bahamas, 

He thought of fair Florida's shores. 



And when in his mind be passed over 

His wonderful travels of old. 
He thought of the heavenly country'. 

Of the city of jasper and gold. 
"Thank the Lord !" said De Leon, the 
sailor, 

"Thank the Lord for the light of the 
truth, 
I now am approaching the fountain, — 

The beautiful fountain of youth." 

VH. 

The cabin was silent; at twilight 

They heard the birds singing a psalm. 
And the wind of the ocean low sighing 
Through groves of the orange and 
palm. 
The sailor still lay on his pallet, 

'Neath the low-hanging vines of the 
roof ; 
His soul had gone forth to discover 
The beautiful fountain of youth. 

H. Butter WORTH. 



THE FLORIDA FOSE. 



Where green the savannas, and ceaseless the flov/ 
Of the lordly St. John to the seaboard below; 
Where the pine tree its resinous odor distils. 
And the scent of magnolia the atmosphere fills ; 
Where ripens the lime, and the orange tree grows, 
There grew into beauty a Florida Rose. 

There, earth is an Eden, the climate a balm ; 
Bright hues deck the fields and aloft waves the palm^ 
O'er the hammocks its perfume the jessamine flings, 
To the live-oak the solemn gray drapery clings ; 
Wide the cypress its vast leafy canopy throws,. 
And in loveliness blossomed the Florida Rose. 

From the coast of the Gulf to the shore of the sea,. 
From the everglade dark to the reef and the key, 
No flower ever flourished so stately and fair. 
So loaded with sweetness the bright summer air; 
Till away to the land of the tempest and snows,. 
Was carried, in triumph, the Florida Rose. 

Ah! the Florid.a Rose, mine it never can be; 
It has left me forever, and blooms not for me. 
No bud may I gather, no dew-drop e'er sip 
From its blossoms, or press to its petals my lip. 
Still the lordly St. John to the wide ocean flows, 
And I mourn for my darling, my Florida Rose ! 

David Tlaye. 



Statistical Tables, 

Prepared by Chas. A. Choate. 

THE following statistical tables will be revised and added to each 
year ; thus furnishing a vast amount of reliable and valuable 
information regarding Florida. 

I.— CHRONOLOGICAL. 

Florida discovered by Juan Fonce de Leon March 27, 15 12 

Ponce de Leon landed near Fernandina April 2, 15 12 

Fernandez de Cordova landed on Florida coast 1517 

Ponce de Leon made first Governor (Adelantado) , 1521 

Pamphilo de Narvaez sailed from Spain for Florida June 17, 1527 

Narvaez anchored in Clear Water Harbor , April 14, 1528 

Hernando de Soto sailed from Cuba for Florida May 18, 1539 

De Soto landed in Tampa (Espiritu Santo) Bay May 30, 1539 

Don Tristan de Lunas Colony landed at Pensacola 1559 

Ribault entered St. John's River (River of May) May i, 1562 

Laudonniere arr. in St. Augustine Bay June 22, 1564 

Ft. Carolina, St. John's River, b'lt by Huguenot Colony. , . .July, 1564 
Pedro Menendez s'l'd from Cadiz, Spain, for Florida. . . ..July i, 1565 
English fleet, under Sir John Hawkins, arr. St. John's 

River Aug^sJ^ 3, 1565 

Menendez arr. and named St. Augustine Bay August 2b, ^^65 

St. Augustine founded by Menendez August 29, 1555 

Ribault arr. St. John's River August 29, 1565 

Menendez arr. St. John's River September 24, 1565 

Ribault's fleet wrecked off Cape Canaveral September 10, 1565 

Huguenot Colony, Ft. Carolina, massacred by Me- 
nendez September 21, 1565 

Laudonniere and Huguenot survivors return to 

France September 25, 1565 

Ribault and companions massacred by Menendez 1565 

Spanish forts, St. John's River, taken by De Gourgues 1568 

St. Augustine burned by Sir Francis Drake 1586 

St. Augustine ravaged and burned by pirates 1665 

Pensacola settled by Spaniards 1696 

Pensacola taken by French under Bienville May 14, 17 18 

Pensacola retaken by Spaniards 1718 

125 



1 26 Statistical Tables. 

Pensacola retaken by French under De Champ- 

meslin September 1 8, i y 1 9 

Pensacola retaken by Spaniards 1722 

St. Augustine besieged by Gen. Oglethorpe June 20, 174c 

Battle at Fort Moosa — Oglethorpe repulsed June 25, 1740 

Siege of St. Augustine raised July 7, 1740 

Second invasion by Oglethorpe 1743 

Seminole Nation founded by Creek Chief 1750 

Exchange of Cuba for Florida by England and 

Spain February 10, 1763 

Invasion of Florida by Spanish Army 1779 

Pensacola occupied by Spaniards May 10, 1781 

Exchange of Florida for the Bahamas by England and Spain . . 1783 

West Florida ceded by Spain to France . 1785 

Independence of West Florida declared at Baton 

Rouge September 26, 18 10 

Secret acts ('ongress, taking possession of Florida 

January 15 and March 3, iSii 

Republic of Florida formed at St. Mary's 181 2 

Fernandina surrendered to U. S. authorities March 19, 1812 

Pensacola occupied by English August 4, 1814 

Pensacola taken by Gen. Jackson November 7, 1814 

Seminole War begun in Georgia 1S17 

Apalachicola massacre by Semiroles. . , November 30, 181 7 

Spanish fort at St. Mark's taken by Gen. Jackson April 7, 1818 

Pensacola again occupied by General Jackson May 25, 1S18 

Florida formally ceded by Spain to the U. S February 22, 1819 

Seminole treaty October 18, 1820 

Territories of East and "West Florida formed March 30, 1822 

The two Territories merged in Territory of Florida . . . March 3, 1823 

John Branch, of Florida, app'd Sec. of the Navy March 9, 1829 

Gen. R. K. Call app'd to command army in Florida. December 6, 1835 

Seminole War in Florida 1835 to 1842 

Battle near Alachua savannah December 19, 1S35 

Battle of Micanopy December 20, 1835 

Massacre of Gen. Thompson's party by Osceola. . .December 28, 1835 

Massacre of Maj. Dade's command December 28, 1835 

Battle of Withlacoochee December 31, 1835 

Second battle of Micanopy January 9, 1836 

Battle of Wetumka. fanuary 9, 1836 

Battle of Dunlawton January iS, 1836 

Gen. Scott app'd to command army in Florida January 21, 1836 

Second battle of Withlacoochie . . February 29, 1836 

Third battle of Micanopy J'ajie 9, 1836 

Battles of Wahoo Swamps November 17, 18, and 21, 1836 

Gen. Jessup app'd to command army in Florida. . . . December 8, 1836 

Battle of Hatcheelustee January 27, 1837 

Battle of Lake Monroe February 8, 1837 

Treaty with Seminoles at Camp Dade March 6, 1837 



Statistical Tables. 127 

Osceola and 71 prisoners captured by Gen. Jessup October, 1837 

Battle of Okeechobee December 25, 1837 

Battle of Wacasassa River December 26, 1837 

Battle of Jupiter Creek January 15, 1838 

Battle of Jupiter Inlet January 24, 1838 

Death of Osceola at Fort Moultrie January 30. 1838 

First State Constitution adopted January 11, 1839 

Gen. Armistead app'd to command army in Florida May 6, 1840 

Battle of Chakachatta June 2, 1840 

Battle of Wakahoota September 6, 1840 

Harney's expedition to the Everglades December, 1840 

Battle of Pilaklikaha April 19, 1842 

Seminole War declared ended August 14, 1842 

Florida admitted as a State March 3, 1845 

Chattahoochee Arsenal seized by Confederates January 6, 186 1 

Fort Marion, St. Augustine, seized by Confederates. ..January 7, 1861 

Ordinance of Secession passed at Tallahassee January 10, 1861 

Fort Pickens, Pensacola, besieged by Confederates. .January 18, 1861 

Battle of Santa Rosa Island Uctober 9, 186 1 

Pensacola evacuated — Navy Yard burned May 10, 1862 

Battle of Olustee February 22, 1864 

Battle of Natural Bridge April 6, 1865 

William Marvin app'd Provisional Governor July 13, 1865 

Ordinance of Secession repealed October 28, 1865 

New Constitution adopted February 25, 1868 

Fourteenth Amendment ratified June 9, 1868 

Government transferred to State authorities July 4, 1868 



II.— DISTANCES FROM JACKSONVILLE. 

The Florida Central and Western, the Transit and Peninsular, the 
Leesburg and Indian River, and the Fernandina and Jacksonville Rail- 
roads have been consolidated under the general title of the Florida Railway 
and Navigation Co., of which the several divisions are the Central, Western, 
Southern, Leesburg, Jacksonville Branch, St. Marks Branch, and Monti- 
cello Branch. 

M.LE8. 

Astor— Up St. J. R. & St. J. & L. E. R. R 134 

Aucilla— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 131 

Apalachicola— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) & Apa. River 286 

Argyle— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 285 

Archer— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western k Central) 85 

Altoona— Up St. J. R. & St. J. & L. E. R. R 153 

Anclote— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Central) St'r from Cedar Kevs 200 

Arrendondo— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) ' 80 

Abe's Spring — F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) Chatta. River & team . . 235 

Aathony Place— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Southern) 116 

Acron — Drive from Altoona " 161 



1 28 Statistical Tables. 

MILES 

Apopka— Drive from Orlando 227 

Arlington — Down St. J. R , 5 

Auburndale— Up St. J. R. & S. F. R. R 265 

Buffalo Bluff— Up St. J. R 87 

Beecher — Up St. J. R 105 

Blue Spring— Up St. J. R 168 

Boulogne — E. F. (Wavcross) R. R 42 

Baldwin— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 19 

. Bristol— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) down Apa. R 227 

Bluff Springs— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) ck R & L. R. Rs 411 

Bonifay— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & R & A. R. Rs 261 

Bellevue— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 316 

Bronson— F. R. & N. Co. (Western & Central) R. R 94 

Brooksville — F. R. & N. Co. (Western & Southern) R. R. & Stage. . . . 190 

Boardman— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 103 

Bel Air— St. J. & S. F. R. R 1 90 

Bartow— Up St. J. R. & S. F. R. R 275 

Beresford — Up St. J. R 165 

Blake — Drive from Daytona 1 70 

Barrsville — Drive from Lake City 72 

Biscayne — Boat from Key West 518 

Beauclerc — Up St. J. R 11 

Bayport — F. R. & N. Co. R. Rs. (Central) Str. from Cedar Keys 175 

Braidentown — ^Str. from Tampa 21s 

Cabbage Bluff— Up St. John R 165 

Callahan — E. F. (" Waycross ") R. R 20 

Cedar Keys— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 127 

Cottondale— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & R & A. R. Rs 244 

Climax— (Ga.) F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & S. F. & W. R. Rs 223 

CampviUe— F. R. & N. Co. (Central & Southern) R. R 64 

Canaveral — Boat from Titusville 270 

City Point — Boat from Rockledge 275 

Crescent City — Up St. J. R. and Str. from Palatka 95 

Crystal River — F. R. &N. Co.'s R. R. (Central) & boat from Cedar Keys. 159 

Clear Water Harbor — Str. from Cedar Kevs 217 

Cypress— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 225 

Charlotte Harbor — Drive from Tampa 390 

Camp Izard — Drive from Ocala 146 

Citra— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Southern) 91 

Conant — J. T. & K. W. and Fla. Southern Rs 150 

Cotton Plant — Drive from Ocala 134 

Crestview— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 310 

Carabelle — Boat from St. Marks 226 

Chattahoochee— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) R. R 205 

Centre Hill — Drive from Leesburg ^ 176 

Crawfordsville — Drive from Tallahassee 185 

Chipley— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 252 

Daytona — Stage from Volusia 167 

Dutton— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) \ 30 



Statistical Tables. 129 



MTLES. 



Dunedin — Boat from Cedar Keys 212 

Drayton Island — Up St. J. R 116 

De Land— Up St. j. R 162 

Drifton— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 138 

Dupont— (Ga.) F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & F. Br. S. F. &. W. R. RS...130 

Edgewater — Up St. J. R 80 

Evinston— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 102 

Eau Gallic — Boat from Rockledge 275 

Eden — Boat from Rockledge 360 

Eustis— Up St. J. R. & St. J. & L. E. R. R 162 

Escambia— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. A A. R. Rs 376 

Euchee Anna — F. R. & M. Co. (Western) & R & A. R. Rs. drive from 

Ponce de Leon 284 

Eurek-a — Up St. J. and Ocklawaha Ks 160 

Enterprise — Up St. J. R 204 

Ellaville— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 95 

Fantville — Drive from Ocala 141 

Fellowship — Drive from Ocala 146 

Fort George — Down St. J. R 28 

Fort Ogden — Drive from Tampa 241 

Fort Dade — Stage from Brooksville 212 

Francis— J. T. & K. W. & Fla. S. R. Rs 60 

Fruit Cove — Up St. J. R 19 

Federal Point— Up St. J. R 58 

Fort Gates— Up St. J. R 106 

Fort Reid— Up St. J. R 203 

Fernandina — F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Jacksonville Branch) 33 

Fort Mason^Up St. J. R. & St. J. & L. E. R. R i6(> 

Fort Gadsden— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) ct .Xpa. R 271 

Fairbanks— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 65 

Fort Meyers— F. R. k N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) & Str. from 

Cedar Kevs 265 

Fruitland Park— J. T. & K. W. and Fla. Southern Rys .• 155 

Gruelle— J. T. & K. W. & Fla. Southern Rys 95 

Georgianna — Boat from Rockledge 275 

Georgetown — Up St. J. R .,110 

Gulf Hammock — Drive from Cedar Keys 135 

Grahamsville — Up St. J. & Ocklawaha Rs 193 

Glencoe — Stage from Enterprise 235 

Green Cove Spring — Up St. J. R 30 

Glen St. Marv— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 30 

Greenville— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 124 

Gainesville — F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 70 

Holly Hill — Drive from Daytona 171 

Hilliard— S. F. & W. R. R 30 

Hatch's Bend— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & S. F. & W. R. Rs. k 

Suwanee R. Str 117 

Horse Creek—Up St. J. R. & S. F. R. R 248 

Hibernia — Up St. J. R : 23 



130 Sicitis/ica/ 'J'ablcs. 



MILES. 



Hart's Orange (}rove— J. T. & K. W. R. R. d- Str. from Palaika 75 

Hart's Roaci— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Jacksonville Brancli) 21 

Houston— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 76 

Hawthorne— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Southern) 70 

Interlachen— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 72 

lamonia — Drive from Tallahassee 181 

Ichatucknee— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & S. F. & W. R. Rs 117 

lola— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) & Apa. R 24 7 

John's Pass — Stage from Tampa 214 

"Johnson— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 79 

Jasper— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & Fla. ]3r. S. F. & W. R. Rs 98 

Keuka— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 74 

Key West— F. R. & N. Co. (Western l^ Central) & Str. from Cedar 

Keys ■. . 350 

Kissimmee— Up St. J. R. & S. F. R. R 233 

Lady Lake— J. T. & K. W. & F. S. R. Rs 152 

Lane Park— Up St. J. R. & L. E. R. R 175 

Lloyd's— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 146 

Liverpool — Drive from Tampa 255 

Largo — Boat from Key West 474 

Lake Worth — Up St. J. R., Ind. R. Str. & Boat from Jupiter 384 

Lake Butler— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Central) and Drive from Temple's 

Mills 56 

La Grange — Up St. J. R. to Enterprise, Stage & Boat from Titusville. . 256 

Longwood— Up St. J. R. & 8. F. R. R 203 

Lake George — Up St. J. R 115 

Lake Beresford — Up St. J. R 163 

Lake Weir Landing — Up Ocklawaha River 226 

Lcesburg— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Central and Southern) 144 

Leesburg— J. T. & K W. A F. S. R. Rs 1 60 

Lake Griffin— Up St. J. & Ock. Rs 284 

Lake City— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 59 

Live Oak— E. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 82 

Lake de Funiak— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 289 

Lawtey— F. R. & N. Co. (Western and Central) R. R -^S 

Lochloosa — F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western and Southern) 90 

Mt. Dora— Up St. J. R. & St. J. & L. E. R. R 1 70 

Mc Meekin— J. T. & K. W. & E. S. R. Rs 81 

Mac Williams— J. T. & K. W. & E. S. R. Rs 67 

Melrose— E. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Southern) & Drive from Campville. . 70 

Malabar — Up St. J. R. & Boat from Rockledge 300 

Melbourne — Up St. |. R. & Boat from Rockledge 295 

Moss Bluff- Up St. J. & Ock. Rs 270 

Mac Kinnon— Up St. J. R. & S. E. R. R 227 

Miami — Boat from Key West -. 512 

Midway— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 1 76 

Marion— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & S. F. & W. R. Rs 93 

Miccosukie — F. R. &N. Co. R. R. (Western) and Drive from Tal- 
lahassee 181; 



Statistical Tables. . 131 



TILES. 



Miakka — Drive from Tampa 221 

Mossy Head— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & P. & A. R. Rs 296 

Montclair— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Southern) 14 ? 

McAlpine— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) & S. F. & W. R. R> 94 

Mandarin — Up St. j. R i 5 

INIagnolia— Up St. j. R 28 

Mt. Royal— Up St." J- 1^ i ' 2 

Mellonville — Up St." J. R 195 

Mayport — Down St. J. R 25 

Mouth of Ocklawaha R.— Up St. }. R .102 

Madison— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 1 10 

Momicello— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Mont o Br.) 142 

Mt. Pleasant— F. R. & N. Co. R. R, (Western) 198 

Molino— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. and P. k L. R. Rs. . . 396 

Marianna— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. R. Rs 234 

Milton— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. R. Rs 349 

Manatee— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (W. & C.) and Sir. from Cedar Kevs. . 150 

MiUview— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) P. & A. and P. k P. R. Rs 378 

Micanopy— j. T. & K. W., and F. S. R. Rs 113 

Maiiland— S"t. ]. R. and S. F. R. R 208 

New Troy — Suwanee R. Str. from New Branforu 113 

Nashua— Up St. J. R 95 

Newmansville — F. R. & N. Co. (Western & Central) and S. F. cK: W. 

R. Rs 85 

New Switzerland — Up St. J. R 23 

Norwalk — Up St. J. R ". 103 

New Branford— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and S. F. & W. R. Rs 106 

New Smyrna — Up St. J. R. and Stage from Enterprise 228 

Oak Hill — On Hillsborough R., Str. from New Smyrna 240 

Orange City — Up St. J. R 204 

Ormond — On Halil'ax R., Stage from St. Augustine 75 

Old Town— Suwanee R., Sir. from New Branfortl 139 

Orange Springs — Up Ock. R 137 

Oceola— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. R 211 

Orange Park— J. T. & K. W. Ry 12 

Orange Mills— Up St. J. R d^ 

Okeehumkee — Up St. "j and Ock. Rs .... 350- 

Ocala— I. T. & K. W. and F. S. R. Rs no 

Ocala— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) ' 106 

Olustee— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 47 

Otter Creek— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Central) 106 

Orange Lake— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Souiliern) 85 

Orlando— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. Rs 215 

Phoenix— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) Drive from Waldo ..61 
Pine Barren— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. and L. & N. R. Rs. .402 
Powelton— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. and L. & N. R. Rs. . 392 

Pinellas — Boat from Tampa 198' 

Plant City— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. R 286 

Palma Sola — Str. from Tampa 213 



1^2 . Statistical Tables. 



MII.KS. 



Pine Level — Drive from Tampa 380 

Panasofflvee— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Southern ) 139 

Padlock— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and S. F. & W. R. Rs 86 

Pine Mount— F. R.' & N. Co. (Western) and S. F. & W. R. Rs 90 

Perry — Drive from Madison 135 

Port Orange — Boat from Daytona 173 

Piccolata — Up St. J. R 44 

Palatka— J. T. & K. W. R. R 55 

Pendryville— Up St. J. & Ock. Rs 308 

Pensacola — F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. R. Ks 369 

Pensacola June — F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. and P. L. R. Rs . 4 i 5 

Ponce de Leon— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and P. & A. R. Rs 278 

Punta Rassa— F. R. & N. Co. (Western & Central) & Sir. from Cedar Keys . 250 

Perry June— J. T. & K. W. and F. S. R. Rs 05 

■Quincy— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 189 

Rockledge — Up St. J. R. and Team from Lake Poinsett 270 

Reddick— J. T. & K. W. and F. S. R. Rs in 

Remington Park — Up St. |. R . . 2 s 

Rolleston-Up St. J. R . . ". 78 

River Junction — F. R. & N. Co. (Western) R R 209 

Rico's Bluff— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) and Apo. R 237 

Rixford— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and Fla. Br. S. F. c^ W. R. Rs. . : . 86 

Rosewood — Y. R. & N. Co. (Central) 117 

South Lake Weir— J. T. & K. W. and Fla. S. R. Rs 147 

Stanton— J. T. & K. W. and Fla. S. R. Rs 146 

Summit— Up St. J. R. and St. J. & L. E. R. R 147 

Suwanee Shoals — Drive from Lake City 68 

St Nicholas — Down St. J. R 4 

St. Lucie — Boat from Rockledge 336 

Shingle Creek — Drive from Kissimmee 240 

Sanitaria— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. R 268 

Salem — Drive from Madison 153 

Spring Warrior — Drive from Madison 143 

Spring Garden Centre — Up St. J. R 158 

Snead's— F. R. & N. Co, (Western) and P. & A. R. Rs 213 

Sarasota — -Boat from Palma Sola 225 

Steinhatchee — Drive from New Branford 130 

San Mateo— Up St. J. R 79 

Seville— Up St. J. R 120 

Spring Grove — Up St. j. R 122 

Sanford — Up St. J. R 1 93 

Savannah, (Ga.) — S. F. & W. P.. R. ("Waycross") 166 

Silver Spring — Up St. J. and Ock. Rs 211 

St. Augustine— Up St. J. R. and St. J. R. R 67 

St. Augustine— J. St. A. & H. R. Ry \ 35 

Sanderson— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) '^ 

Sulphur Springs— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 79 

Suwanee Springs— F. R. & N. Co. (Western) and Fla. Br. S. F. & W.R. Rs. 90 
St. INLark's— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (St. M. Br. ) 186 



Statistical Tables. 133, 

MILES. 

Starke— F. R, & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 45 

Santa Fe— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 51 

Sumterville— F. R. & N. Co. R. R 141 

Tarpon Springs — Str. from Cedar Key 200 

Temple's Mills— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 42 

Tangerine — Str. from Tavares 210 

Tocoi— Up St. J. R : 49 

Tallahassee— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 165 

Tampa— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) Str. from Cedar Keys . 280 

Tampa— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. R 308 

Tavares— Up St. J. R., St. J. & L. E. R. R 200 

Titusville — Up St. J. R. and Stage from Enterprise 250 

Umatilla- Up St. J. R. and St. J. & L. E. R. R 156 

Volusia — Up St. J. R 134 

Webster— F. R. & N. Co. R. Rs 167 

West Apopka — Drive from Orlando 240 

Warrington — Down Pensacola Bay 375 

Whitesville— F. R. & N. Co. R. Rs 130 

Waukeenah — Drive from Monticello 151 

Wacissa — Drive from Monticello 158 

Welaka— Up St. J. R 100 

Wekiva— Up St. J. R 184 

Waycross, (Ga.)— S. F. & W. R. R 76 

Welborn— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western) 71 

Wakulla Spring — Drive from Tallahassee 181 

Waldo— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Central) 56 

Wildwood— F. R. & N. Co. R. Rs 132 

Winter Park— Up St. J. R. and S. F. R. R 210 

Waite's— J. T. & K. W. & Fla. Southern 86 

Yulee— F. R. & N. Co. R. R. (Western & Cential) 60 

Zellwood — Str. from Tavares 212 



III.— LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 

THE STATE. 

Latitude, between 24^^ 25' and 31° 00', North. 
Longitude, between 80° 2 and 87" 37', West. 

RELATIVE LATITUDE OF CITIES AND TOWNS. 

Key West and Amoy, China ; Moorshedabad, India. 

Apalachicola and New Orleans, Louisiana ; Galveston, Texas ; Ning Po, 

China ; Suez, Egypt. 
Tallahassee and Mobile, Alabama ; Austin, Texas ; Cairo, Egypt. 

RELATIVE LONGITUDE OF CITIES AND TOWNS. 

Key West and London, Canada ; Cleveland, Ohio ; Columbia, South 
Carolina ; Augusta, Georgia ; Matanzas, Cuba. 

Tallahassee and Apalachicola and Lansing, Michigan ; Dayton, Oh'o ; 
Covington, Kentucky ; Atlanta, Georgia. 



134 Statistical Tables. 

IV.— AREAS. 

THE STATE. 

Square miles, land 54,240 

" " water 4,44° 

Total area in scjuare miles 58,680 

Acres, land 34,713,600 

Extreme length of peninsula 400 miles 

Average width of peninsula 100 " 

Length, east and west, of northern portion 375 " 

Average width, north and south, of northern portion 65 

I. — Comparative Average Areas. 

PER CENT. 

Florida is to average area of all the States 1.094 

" " area of California 378 

" " area of Rhode Island 45-38i 

2. — Comparative Increase in Number of Farms iti Georgia., Alabama, 

and Florida. 



1870. 



Georgia . 

Alabama. 

Florida.. 



69,956 
67,382 
10,241 



138,626 

135,864 

23,438 



Increase. 



98.2 per cent. 
101.6 
128.9 



THE COUNTIES. 

-County Sites and Area of Counties. 



COUNTY SITE. 



Alachua Gainesville . , 

Baker , Sanderson . . 

Bradford - Lake Butler. 

Brevard 

Calhoun 

Clay 

Columbia 

Dade I Miami 

Duval , Jacksonville 

Escambia Pensacola. , . 



Green Cove Springs. 
Lake City 



Franklin. 
Gadsden. 



Apalachicola, 
Quincy 



SQ. MILES. 

i 


ACRES. 


1 

1,260 


806,400 


1 500 


320,000 


550 


352,000 


' 4,390 


2,809,600 


1,160 


742,400 


640 


409,600 


860 


55i»4oo 


i 7,200^ 


4,608,000 


900 


576,000 


I 720 


460,800 


; 690 


441,60c 


i 540 


345>6oo 



Statistical Tables. 
County Sites and Area of Counties — Continued. 



135 



Hamilton . . . . 
Hernando . . . 
Hillsborough. 
Holmes . . . . . 

Jackson 

Jefferson . . . . 
La Faj-ette . . 

Leon 

Levy 

Liberty 

Madison. . . . 

Manatee 

Marion 

Monroe 

Nassau 

Orange 

Polk 

Putnam 

St. John's . . 
Santa Rosa. . 

Sumter 

Suwanee . . . . 

Taylor 

Volusia 

Wakulla 

Walton 

Washington . 



COUNTY SITE. 



SQ. MIJ,ES.I ACRKS. 



Jasper 

Brooksville . . . 

Tampa 

Cerro Gordo. 
Marianna. . . . 
Monticello. . . 
New Troy . . . . 
Tallahassee . . 

Bronson 

Bristol 

Madison .... 
Pine Level. . . 

Ocala 

Key West . . . . 
Fernandina . . . 

Orlando 

Bartow 

Palatka 

St. Augustine, 

Milton 

Sumterville . . 
Live Oak. . . . 

Perry 

Enterprise, . . 
Crawfordville . 
Euchee Anna. 
Vernon 



540 


345,6' 


i,7co 


1,088,000 


1,300 


832,000 


540 


345,600 


1,000 


640,000 


500 


358,400 


940 


601,600 


900 


576,000 


940 


601.600 


800 


5 12,000 


850 


544,000 


4,680 


2,995,200 


1,680 


1,075,200 


2,600 


1,664,000 


640 


499,600 


2,250 


1,440,000 


2,060 


1,388,400 


860 


550,400 


1,000 


640,000 


1,260 


806,500 


1,380 


883,200 


660 


422,400 


1,080 


691,200 


1,340 


857,600 


580 


371,200 


1,360 


870,400 


1,330 


211,200 



v.— POPULATION. 

Trir, STATF. 

I. — Comparative Increase by Decades. 



Census of 1840 54,477 

1850 87,445 

" i860 140,424 

" 1870 187,748 

" 1880 269,493 

1885 339,057 



Pop. 



Increase. 



(Territorial.) 

60.5 percent. 

60.6 " 

33-7 " 
43.6 " 
25.8 " 



136 



Statistical Tables. 



2. — Census of 1880 — Raoe, Sex, and Nationality. 

Native 259,584 Foreign , 9,909 

White 142,605 Black 126,690 

Male 136,444 Female 133,049 

Voting population 61,699 

3. — Comparative Increase, 1870 to 1880, in Georgia, Alabama, aftd 

Florida. 





1S70. 


1S80. 


Increase. 


Alabama 

Georgia 


996,992 

1,184,109 

187,748 


1,262,505 

1,542,180 

269,493 


26.6 percent. 

30.2 

43-6 


Florida 



4. — Population of Cities and Towns over 4,000. 




County. 



THE COUNTIES. 

5. — Population by Counties. 



1S70. 



Alachua. . 
Baker . . . 
Bradford. 
Brevard . . 
Calhoun.. 

Clay 

Columbia, 

Dade. . . . 

Duval. . . . 

Escambia, 

Franklin. 

Gadsden. 

Hamilton. 



17,328 
1,325 
3,67 ^ 
1. 216 

998 
2,098 

7,335 
85 
[1,921 
7,817 
1,256 
9,802 
5,749 



1880. 



16,462 

2,303 

6,1 12 

1,478 

1,580 

2,838 

9,589 

257 

19,431 

12,156 

1,791 

12,169 

6,790 



18S5. 



26,255 
2,895 
6,815 

2,376 
2,094 

4,317 
11,187 

332 
2-1,955 
^7,050 

2,297 
11,406 

7,255 



Statistical Tables. 
Population by Counties — Continued. 



m 



County. 



Hernando . . . 
Hillsborough. 
Holmes ... 
Jackson .... 
Jefferson . . . . 
La Fayette.*. . 

Leon 

Levy 

Liberty. . . . . , 
Madison. . . . , 
Manatee. . . . 

Marion 

Monroe 

Nassau 

Orange 

Polk 

Putnam 

St. John's . . . 
Santa Rosa. . 

Sumter 

Suwanee 

Taylor 

Volusia 

Wakulla 

Walton 

W^ashington. . 



1870. 


1880. 
4,248 


1885. 


2,938 


7,173 


3,216 


5,814 


8,285 


1.572 


2,170 


3,223 


9,528 


14,372 


16,728 


3,398 


16,065 


15,573 


1,783 


2,441 


4,030 


5,236 


19,662 


17,375 


2,018 


5,767 


6,678 


1,050 


1.362 


1,325 


1,121 


14,798 


14,697 


1,931 


3,544 


5,484 


0,804 


13,046 


17,365 


5,657 


10,940 


15,040 


4,247 


6,635 


8,619 


2,195 


6,618 


15,425 


3,169 


3,181 


6,623 


3,821 


6,261 


. 9,572 


2,618 


4,535 


5,714 


3,312 


6,645 


7,432 


2,952 


4,686 


9,427 


3,556 


7,161 


8,876 


1-453 


2,279 


2,182 


1,723 


3,294 


6,667 


2,506 


2,723 


2,896 


3,^-^41 


4,301 


4,747 


2,302 


4,089 


5,089 



VL— LIST OF GOVERNORS. 

TERRITORIAL. 

Andrew Jackson July, 1821, to June, 1822 

Wm. P. Duval 1822, 1834 

John W. Eaton 1834, 1835 

Richard K. Call 1835, 1839 

Robert R. Reed 1839, 1840 

Richard K. Call 1840, 1844 

John Branch 1844, 1845 

STATE. 

W. D. Moseley July, 1845, to June, 1848 

Thomas Brown 1848, 1852 

James E. Broome 1852, 1856 



138 Statistical Tables. 

Madison Perry < July, 1S56, to June, i860 

John Milton i860, 1865 

A. K. Allison (acting) 1865 

Wm Marvin (provisional) July to Dec. 1865 

David S. Walker, Sr Dec, 1865, to July. 1868 

Harrison Reed 186S, 1873 

Ossian B. Hart 1873 

Marcellus L. Stearns 1873, 1877 

George F. Drew 1877, 1881 

Wm. D. Bloxham 1881, 1885 

£. A. Perry , iSSq, 1889 



Vn.— UNITED STATES OFFICERS. 
CONGRESSIONAL. 

SENATORS. 

Hon. Wilkinson Call, Jacksonville ; term expires 1885. 
Hon. Charles W. Jones, Pensacola ; " " 1887. 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

First District. — F.scambia, Santa Rosa, Walton, Holmes, Washing- 
ton, Jackson, Calhoun, Franklin, Fiberty, Gadsden, Wakulla, Leon, 
Jefferson, Taylor, Fa Fayette, Levy, Hernando, Hillsborough, Mana- 
tee, Polk, and Monroe Counties. 

Hon Robert H. M. Davidson, Quincy ; term expires t888. 

Second District. — Madison, Suwanee, Hamilton. Columbia, Ala- 
chua, Bradford, Baker, Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. John's, i'utnam, Sum- 
ter, Marion, Volusia, Orange, Brevard, and' Dade Counties. 

Hon. Charles Dougherty, Xul'usia; term expires 1888. 

JUDICl.'VL. 

UNITEi:) STATES CIRCUIT COURTS. 

Fifth Judicial Circuit. — Districts of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas 

Hon. Wm. B. Woods, Atlanta, Ga., Supreme Court Justice assigned; 
Hon. Don A. Pardee, New Orleans, La., Circuit Judge 

E. M. Cheney, Jacksonville, U. S. Attorney, Northern District ; (t. 
B. Patterson, Key West, U. S. Attorney. Southern District.- 

W. C. Bird, Jacksonville, Marshal, Northern District; Peter Wil- 
liams, Key West, Marshal, Southern District. 

Philip Walter, Jacksonville. Clerk, Northern District ; F. O. Locke, 
Key West, Clerk, Southern District. 



Statistical Tables. 139 

Terms. — Northern District: Jacksonville, first Monday in De- 
cember ; Tallahassee, first Monday in February ; Pensacola, first Mon- 
day in March. Southern District : Tampa, first Monday in March ; 
Key West, first Monday \\\ May and November. 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS. 

Northern District. — Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, 
Clay, Columbia, Dade, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamil- 
ton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, La Fayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, 
Madison, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, St. John's, Santa Rosa, 
Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington 
Counties. 

Hon. Thomas Settle, Jacksonville, District Judge. 

E. M. Cheney, Jacksonville, U. S. Attorney. 

W. C. Bird, Jacksonville, Marshal. 

Piiilip Walter. Jacksonville, Clerk, Eastern Division. 

Terms. — Eastern Division, Jacksonville, first Monday in Decem- 
ber ; Middle Division, Tallahassee, first Monday in February ; West- 
ern Division, Pensacola, first Monday in March. 

Southern District. — Hernando, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, and 
Monroe Counties. 

Hon. James W. Locke, Key West, District Judge. 
G. B. Patterson, Key West, U S. Attorney. 
Peter Williams, Key \\ est, Marshal. 
E. O. Locke, Key West, Clerk. 

Terms. — Tampa, first Monday in March ; Key West, first Monday 
in May. 

COLLECTORS OF CUSTOMS. 

Jno. E. Grady Apalachicola 

W. A. Mahoney Fernandina 

J. V. Harris Key West 

Jno. McGuire Pensacola 

Jno. F. House St. Augustine 

E. Higgins Jacksonville 

Joseph Hirst Cedar Keys 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Wm. D. Bloxham, Surveyor-General Tallahassee 

S. C. Thompson, Revenue Collector. . . Jacksonville 

Louis A. Barnes, Register Land Oflfice Gainesville 

Jno. F. Rollins, Receiver Land Oflfice Gainesville 



140 Statistical Tables. 



VIII.— STATE AND COUNTY OFFICERS 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

E. A. Perry Governor 

Milton H. Mabry Lieutenant-Governor 

John L. Crawford Secretary of State 

C. P. Cooper Attorney-General 

Dr. E. S. Crill Treasurer 

Wm, D. Barnes Comptroller 

David Lang Adjutant-General 

Dr. C. L. Mitchell Commissioner of Lands and Immigration 

Albert J. Russell Sup't of Public Instruction 

Cabinet Officers. — Secretary of State, Attorney-General, Comptroller, 
Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Adjutant-General, 
and Commissioner of Lands and Immigration. 

Board of Cojumissioners of State Institutions. — The Governor and 
Cabinet. 

Board of Education. — Superintendent of Public Instruction, Secre- 
tary of State, and Attorney-General. 

Board of Far do7is. — The Governor, Justices of the Supreme Court, 
and Attorney-General. 

Bureau of Imtnigration. — The Governor, Comptroller, and Com- 
missioner of Lands and Immigration. 

Board of State Canvassers. — The Secretary of State, Comptroller, 
and Attorney-General. 

Board of Trustees., Internal Improvement Fund. — The Governor, 
Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney -General, and Commissioner of Lands 
and Immigration. 

N. M. Bowen, Tallahassee, State Printer. 

H. S. Duval, Chattahoochee, State Engineer. 



JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 
SUPREME COURT. 

Hon. Geo. G. McWhorter, Jacksonville, Chief Justice. 
Hon. R, B. Van Valkenburgh, St. Nicholas, Associate Justice. 
Geo. P. Raney, Jr., Tallahassee, " ** 

D. C. Wilson, Clerk. 
Jno. A. Pearce, Marshal. 

T^rwj.— Semi-annual, second Tuesday in January and June, in 
Supreme Court Room in the State Capitol at Tallahassee. 



Statistical Tables. 14 1 

CIRCUIT COURTS. 

First Ciniiit.—^dintdi Rossa, Escambia, Walton, Holmes, Washing- 
ton, and Jackson Counties. 

Hon. Jno. F. McClellan, Judge; Wm. H. Milton, State Attorney. 

Terms. — Santa Rosa, last Monday in March, and second Monday in 
October ; Escambia, second Monday in April, and first Monday in 
December ; Walton, first Monday after fourth Monday in April, and 
fourth Monday in October ; Holmes, second Monday after fourth 
Monday in April, and second Wednesday after fourth Monday in 
October ; Washington, third Monday after fourth Monday in April, 
and second Monday after fourth Monday in October ; Jackson, fourth 
Monday after fourth Monday in April, and third Monday after fourth 
Monday in October. 

Second 0;r/^//.— Franklin, Calhoun, Liberty, Wakulla, Gadsden, 
Leon, and Jefferson Counties. 

Hon. David S. Walker, Sr., Judge ; E. C. Love, State Attorney. 

Terms. — Franklin, fourth Monday in April, and last Monday in 
October ; Calhoun, first Thursday after third Monday in April, and 
first Monday in November ; Liberty, third Monday in April, and first 
Thursday after first Monday in November ; Wakulla, first Monday in 
April, and third Monday in November ; Gadsden, second Monday in 
April, and second Monday in November ; Leon, third Monday in 
March, and second Monday in December ; Jefferson, first Monday in 
March, and fourth Monday in November. 

Third Circuit.— TdiyXox, La Fayette, Madison, Hamilton, Suwanee, 
and Columbia Counties. 

Hon. E. J. Vann, Judge ; B. B. Blackwell, State Attorney. 

Terms. — Taylor, first Tuesday after first Monday in April, and first 
Tuesday after first Monday in October ; La Fayette, sixth Tuesday after 
fourth Monday in April, and sixth Tuesday after fourth Monday in 
October ; Madison, second Monday in April, and second Monday in 
October ; Hamilton, fourth Monday in April, and fourth Monday in 
October ; Suwanee, first Monday after fourth Monday in April, and 
first Monday after fourth Monday in October ; Columbia, third Mon- 
day after fourth Monday in April, and third Monday after fourth 
Monday in October, 

Fourth Circuit. — Nassau, Duval, Baker, Bradford, Clay, and St. 
John's Counties. 

Hon. James M. Baker, Judge ; A. W. Owens, State Attorney. 

Terms. — Nassau, third Tuesday in April, and third Tuesday in 
October ; Duval, first Tuesday in May, and first Tuesday in Novem- 
ber ; Baker, second Tuesday in April, and second Tuesday in October ; 
Bradford, first Tuesday in April, and first Tuesday in October ; Clay, 



142 Statistical Tables. 

fourth Tuesday in March, and fourth Tuesday in September ; St. 
John's, second Tuesday in March, and second Tuesday in September. 

Fifth Circuit. — Alachua, Levy, Marion, Putnam, and Sumter 
Counties. 

Hon. Thos. F. King, Judge ; Wm. A. Hocker, State Attorney. 

Terms — Alachua, fourth Monday after fourth Monday in March, 
and first Monday after fourth Tuesday in November; Levy, fourth 
Tuesday after fourth Monday in March, and fourth Tuesday in Novem- 
ber ; Marion, fourth Monday in March, and third Monday in October ; 
Putnam, third Tuesday after fourth Monday in March, and third 
Tuesday in November ; Sumter, third Monday in March, and first 
Monday in October. 

Sixth Cu'cuit. — Hernando, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, and Mon- 
roe Counties. 

Hon. H. L. Mitchell, Judge ; S. M. Sparkman, State x\ttorney. 

Terjns. — Hernando, second Monday in March, and fourth Monday 
in October ; Hillsborough, fourth Monday in March, and second Mon- 
day in October ; Polk, third Monday in May, and second Monday 
after fourth Monday in October ; Manatee, first Monday in May, and 
third Monday after fourth Monday in October ; Monroe, second Mon- 
day in April, and fifth Monday after fourth Monday in October. 

Seventh Circuit. — Orange, Volusia, Brevard, and Dade Counties. 
Hon. Eleazar K. Foster, Judge; John T. Beggs, State At- 
torney. 

Terms. — Orange, second Monday in May, and second Monday in 
December ; Volusia, second Monday in April, and second Monday in 
November ; Brevard, third Monday in March, and third Monday in 
October ; Dade, first Monday in March, and first Monday in October. 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

SENATORIAL DISTRICTS. 

First District — Escambia County. 

Second District — Santa Rosa County. 

Third District — Jackson County. 

Fourth District — Washington and Holmes Counties. 

Fifth District — Calhoun and Franklin Counties. 

Sixth District — Gadsden County. 

Seventh District —Liberty and Wakulla Counties. 

Eighth District — Leon County. 



Statistical Tables. 143 

Ninth District — Jefferson County. 

Tenth District — Madison County. 

Eleventh District — Hamilton County. 

Twelfth District — Taylor and La Fayette Counties, 

Thirteenth District — Alachua County. 

Fourteenth District — Columbia County. 

Fifteenth District — Bradford County. 

Sixteenth District — Nassau County. 

Seventeenth District — Putnam County. 

Eighteenth District — Duval County, 

Nineteenth District — Marion County. 

Twentieth District — Orange County. 

Twenty-first District — Dade and Brevard Counties. 

Twenty-second District — Hernando County. 

Twenty-third District — Sumter County. 

Twenty-fourth District — Monroe County. 

Twenty-fifth District — Walton County. 

Twenty-sixth District — Suwanee County. 

Twenty-seventh District — Polk and Manatee Counties. 

Twenty-eighth District — Clay and Baker Counties. 

Twenty-ninth District — Volusia County. 

Thirtieth District — Hillsborough County. 

Thirty-first District — St. John's County. 

Thirty-second District — Levy County. 

APPORTIONMENT OF MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 

Escambia County, three ; Santa Rosa County, two ; Walton, two ; 
Holmes, one ; Washington, one ; Franklin, one ; Calhoun, one ; Jack- 
son, three ; Liberty, one ; Wakulla, one ; Gadsden, three ; Leon, four ; 
Jefferson, four ; Madison, three ; Taylor, one ; Hamilton, two ; Su- 
wanee, two ; La Fayette, one ; Columbia, three ; Alachua, four ; Levy, 
two ; Bradford, two ; Clay, one ; Baker, one ; Nassau, two ; Duval, 
four ; St. John's, two ; Volusia, one ; Orange, two ; Putnam, two ; 
Marion, two ; Sumter, two ; Hernando, two ; Hillsborough, two ; 
Polk, one ; Manatee, one ; Dade, one : Brevard, one ; and Monroe, 
two. 

The Legislature is composed of 108 members (32 Senators and 76 



1 44 



Statistical Tables. 



Members of Assembly), and meets biennially, on the first Tuesday after 
the first Monday in January, counting from its first session in 1868, 
under the existing constitution. 



LIST OF SENATORS, 1886, 



WITH POST-OFFICE ADDRESS. 



ISt . 
2d.. 

3d.. 

4th. 

5th. 

6th. 

7th. 

8th. 

9th. 
loth. 
nth. 
1 2th. 
13th. 
14th. 
15th. 
1 6th. 
17th. 
1 8th. 
19th. 
20th. 

2ISt . 

22d. . 

23d . 

24th . 

25th. 

26th. 

27th. 

28th. 

29th 

30th. 

31st. 

32d. . 



S. R. Mallory. . . . 
J. M. Landrum. . . 
J. H. McKlNNE. . . 
Miles Mountien. . 

W. T, Orman 

I. N. Shepherd. . . 

W. H. Neel 

y. E. Proctor 

j. D. Cole 

J. N. Stripling . . 

Jas. Burnam 

W. D. Hankins. . 

D. C. Martin. . . . 
H. L. R. Roberts. 

J. L. Gaskins 

H. C. Baker 

E. S. Crill 

E. C Sammis 

H. W. Chandler.. 

J. G. Speer 

H. S. Williams . . 

A. S. Mann 

Geo. M Lee 

G. B. Pendleton. 

A. R. Jones 

Wm. Bryson 

J. W. VVhidden . . . 
S. M. Hendricks. 

C. Delano 

J, T. Lesley 

C. M. Cooper 

J. L. F. COTTRELL. 



POST-OFFICE. 



Pensacola 

Milton 

Marianna 

Vernon 

Appalachicola 

Chattahoochee 

Orange 

Tallahassee 

Monticello 

Madison 

Hamilton 

Steinhatchie 

Gainesville 

Lake City ... 

Starke 

King's Ferry 

Palatka 

Jacksonville 

Ocala 

Oakland 

Rockledge 

Ciystal River 

Leesburg 

Key West 

Crestview 

Live Oak 

Davidson 

Green Cove Spring . . . 
Spring Garden Centre. 

Tampa. 

St. Augustine 

Cedar Keys 



Escambia. 

Santa Rosa. 

Jackson. 

Washington. 

Calhoun. 

Gadsden. 

Wakulla. 

Leon. 

Jefferson. 

Madison. 

Hamilton. 

La Fayette. 

Alachua. 

Columbia. 

Bradford. 

Nassau. 

Putnam. 

Duval. 

Marion. 

Orange. 

Brevard. 

Hernando. 

Sumter. 

Monroe. 

Walton. 

Suwanee. 

Manatu. 

Clay. 

Volusia. 

Hillsborough. 

St. Johns. 

Levy. 



Statisiicai Tables. 



M5 



LIST OF MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY, 1886, 



WITH POST-OFFICE ADDRESS. 



Gainesville 

Waldo 

Gainesville 

Joella 

Sanderson 

Starke 

Lake Butler 

Kissimmee 

Wewahitchka 

Green Cove Spring. 

Mikesville 

Lake City 

Benton 

Miami 

Jacksonville 



J, N. Llinton 

T. J. Forest 

Benj. Rush 

Jas. McCaslin 

*n. c. h erndon . 

w. w. tumblin 

John Croft 

W. J. Brack.. 

J. N. Richards 

R, W. Davis (Speaker). . . 

John F. Niblack 

Bascom H. Palmer 

Daniel N. Cone 

J. W. EWAN 

W. B. Owen. 

G. W. Wetmore 

Wm. James 

T, V. GiBBS 

J . E. YONGE 

j. D. Emmons 

J. M. Tate 

H. L. Grady 

A. W. Snider 

D. W. Miller 

E. Owens 

W. L. Peeples 

W. L. Altman 

B, F. Kirk 

N. A. Carter 

J. S. Taylor 

Wm. Pitt Head 

W. F. Green 

J. A. Robinson 

J. L. Powell 

A. C. White 

R. W. Washington 

B. C. GiBBES 

W. A. Byrd I 

J. C. Smythe Aucilla. . . 

T. P. Chaires Old Town 



rOST-OFFICR. 



Pensacola 

Williams' Station. . . . 

Powelton 

Appal achicola 

Mt Pleasant 

Concord 

Quincy 

Belmont 

White Springs 

Brooksville 

Fort Dade 

Clear Water Harbor. 

Plant City 

Sterling 

Greenwood 

Marianna 

Sneed's 

Monticello 



Alachua. 



Baker. 
Bradford. 

Brevard. 

Calhoun. 

Clay. 

Columbia. 



Dade. 
Duval. 



Escambia. 



Franklin. 
Gadsden. 



Hamilton. 

Hernando. 

« 

Hillsborough. 

Holmes. 
Jackson. 

u 

Jefferson. 

u 
a 
a 

La Fayette. 



146 



Sta.'isthal 7'ablts. 



LLSr OK MEMBERS OK ASSEMBLY.— Contixlkd. 



D, S. Walkei^, Jr 

Clinton Snekd 

E. C. Weeks 

S. W. Frazier 

E. H. Brewer. 

Samuel Quincy 

M. J. Solomon 

VVm. F. Hughey 

A. B. Osgood 

E. J. Alexander 

Z. T. Crawford 

H. E. Miller 

W. A. WlLKERSON. . . . 

Jas. p. Perkins. 

Fernando Figueredo, 

John Wilkinson 

R. E. Robinson 

R. Mc. S. Byrne 

B. M. Robinson 

Jno. W. Bryant 

Jos. Hicks 

G. W. Lyle 

C. J. Perrenot 

John Wilkinson, Jr. . 
Otto Gudenrath. . . . 
Wm. C. Middleton. . . 

Wm. Himes 

L, E. Snow 

S. T. OVERSTREET 

A. J. McLeod 

John R. Kelly 

H. S. Adams 

R. W. Ash MORE 

C. D. Monroe 

J. A. McLean 

W. W. Miller 



J'OST-OFFICE. 



Tallahassee. 



Archer . . . 
Levyville. 
Bristol . . . 
Madison , 



Pine Level. 

Ocala 

Flemington. 
Fort Myers. 
Key West . . 
Fernandina 



Leon. 



Levy. 

Liberty. 
Madison. 



Manatee. 

Marion. 

Monroe. 
Nassau. 
Oran^re. 



Fort Mason 

San ford 

Lakeland 

Georgetown 

San Mateo 

Milton 

Otahite 

Florence | St. Johns. 

Moultrie 

Webster 

Wildwood 

Live Oak 



Perry 

Oak Hill . . . 
Sopchoppy- • • 

Freeport 

Euchee Anna . 
Vernon 



Polk. 
Putnam. 

Santa Rosa. 



Sumter. 



Suwanee. 

Taylor. 
Volusia. 
Uakulla. 
Walton. 

it 

Washington, 



Statistical Tables. 



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Statistical Tables. 149 

IX.— IMPORTANT LAWS. 

LIMITATION OF ACTIONS. 

Actions are barred : 

For recovery on Judgments and Contracts under seal in, .20 years. 

'* " of Real Estate after adverse possession of .. . 7 " 

" " on Contracts not under seal in 5 " 

" " for recovery for any Article charged in Store 

account in 4 " 

" " on any Liability created by Statute, except 

penalty or forfeiture in 3 " 

" " for Trespass on Real Estate in 3 " 

" " for Detainer in 3 " 

" " for Injury to Personal Property in 3 " 

" " for Relief against Fraud in 3 " 

" " on Contract not written in 3 '* 

" " on Open Account in 2 " 

" " for Statutory Penalty in 2 " 

" " for Libel, Slander, Assault, Battery in 2 " 

RATE OF INTEREST. 

Legal rate 8 per cent. 

By contract no limit. 

HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS. 

Exempt f ran Forced Sale under any Process of Latv. — Homestead^ 
owned by head of family residing in the State, in the country, 160 
acres ; homestead, in any incorporated city or town, 1-2 acre ; personal 
property to the amount of $1,000. 

Note. — Such real estate is not alienable without the joint consent 
et husband and wife, when that relation exists ; and no property is ex- 
empt from sale for taxes, purchase-money, or liens for improvements or 
labor. The owner must actually reside on city or town homestead, 
which must comprise only the residence and business house of the 
owner, not exceeding $1,000 in value. 

Exempt f7-oni Forced Sale where Liability was incurred before May 10^ 
1865. — Personal property to the amount of $1,000. 

Exempt from Execution, Attachment, and Distress. — Necessary wear- 
ing-apparel and bedding of every person, and necessary wearing- 
apparel, bedding, household, and kitchen furniture of every family — 
such furniture not to exceed $200 in value ; the farm of every farmer 
owning in fee forty acres, of which five acres or more are in actual 
cultivation and productive use, the whole, including improvements, not 
exceeding $1,000 in value ; the boat of every fisherman, pilot, or resi- 
dent upon any island, and the boat and flat of every ferryman, the same 



I 50 Statistical Tables. 

in either case not exceeding ^200 in value ; bounty lands located by 
any soldier under warrant issued 5y virtue of any Act of Congress, 
while in the possession of such soldier, if he has no other lands exem])t. 

Exempt from Execution, Attachment, and Distress, except when Defend- 
■ant is Removing or Resides out of the State, o> is Secreting or fraudulently 
Disposing of his Property to avoid Paymentof Just Debts. — The horse, sad- 
dle, and bridle, or the horse, saddle, vehicle, and harness, of every clergy- 
man, not exceeding $300 in value ; the horse, saddle, bridle, medicir.e, 
and professional books of every surgeon and physician, and the profes- 
sional books and libraries of all professional men, not exceeding $300 
in value ; one set of working-tools or instruments of every mechanic, 
artist, dentist, artisan, or tradesman, not exceeding $300 in value; 
the horse and gun of every farmer engaging in the actual cultivation 
of five or more acres of land, not exceeding ^200 in value ; such 
property of every actual housekeeper with a family as is necessary 
for the support ot himself and family, not exceeding $300 in value — 
if all other exemptvons above are waived. 



X.— PUBLIC LANDS. 

UNITED STATKS LANDS. 

Land Office, Gainesville. I-. A. Barne.s, Register. 

Total acres surveyed up to June 30, 1879 30»i5i>946 

'' " unsurveyed up to June 30, 1879 7>779)574 

Price, $1.25 per acre. 

STATE LANDS. 

Land Office, Tallahassee. C. L. Mitchell, Commissioner. 

I. — Swa^np and Overflowed Lands. 

Total acres patented to the State to Jan. i, 1884 15,686,242 67 

Disposed of prior to Jan. i, 1883 2,077,377 58 

" " since Jan. i, 1883 8,241,658 83 10,319,036 41 

Total acres on hand, January i. 1885 5,367,206 26 

2. — Internal PmprovemetU Lands. 

Total acres on hand, January 1, 1883, 175,970 00 

*' " patented since January i, 1883 16,474 35 

192,444 35 
Total acres disposed of since January i, 1883 25,113 69 

Total acres on hand, January i, 1885 167,330 66 



Statistical Tables. 151 

3. — -School Lands. 

Total acres on hand, January i, 1883 588,467 00 

" " Indemnity lands acquired since January i, 1883 17,032 35 

605,499 35 
Total acres disposed of since January i, 1883 95)899 9' 

Total acres on hand, January i, 1885 S09.599 44 

4. — Setninary Lands. 

Total acres on hand, January 1, 1883 33,820 00 

" " disposed of since January i, 1883. 1,680 07 

Total acres on hand, January i, 1885 32,139 93 

5. — Recapitulation. On hand January i, 1885. 

Swamp and Overflowed Lands 5,367,206 26 

Internal Improvement Lands '. . . 167,330 66 

School Lands '. 509iS99 44 

Seminarv Lands 32,139 93 



Grand total 6,076,276 29 

PRICES. 

Internal Improvement Lands $2 oc to $7 00 per acre. 

School Lands, i6th Section, average i 25 " 

" " Indemnity i 25 to 2 50 " 

Seminary Lands i 25 to 10 00 " 

The unsold residue of Swamp and Overflowed Lands has all been 
granted to aid in the construction of railroads, and withdrawn from 
sale. 



XL— RAILROADS, CANALS, AND TELEGRAPH-LINES. 

RAILROADS -COMPLETED. 

Chatlahoochec and East Pass ; Climax (Ga.) on S. F. & W. Ry. to Gulf 
of Mexico, at or near East Pass. Completed, Climax to River Junction 
(Fla. ), 30 miles. 

East Florida (commonly known as Waycross Short Line), Waycross 
(Ga.), on S. F. & W, Ry. & Jacksonville. Completed, 42 miles. 

Florida Railway and Navigation Company : comprising Central Divi- 
sion (Florida Transit R. R.), Fernandina to Cedar Key, 1 55 miles ; Western 
Division (Florida Central and Western R. R.), Jacksonville to Chattahoochee 



152 Statistical Tables. 

River, 209 miles ; Southern Division j(Florida Tropical and Peninsular R. 
R.) Waldo to Panasoffkee and Tavares, 103 miles; Jacksonville Branch 
(Fernandina and Jacksonville R. R. ), Hart's Road Junction to Jacksonville, 
22 miles; St. Mark's Branch, Tallahassee to St. Mark's, 21 miles ; Monti- 
cello Branch, Drifton to Munticello, 4 miles; total, 514 miles. 

Florida Southern : Georgia Line and Charlotte Harbor, with branch 
to Tampa, and branch from Gainesville to Palatka. Completed, Palatka 
to Gainesville, 60 miles, and from Perry Junction on Palatka branch 
to Leesburg, 69 miles, and branch from Micanopy Junction to Micanopy, 

8 miles. 

Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River, 80 miles. Completed 
from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, 35 miles. 

Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West : Jacksonville to Sanford and 
branch to Indian River. Completed, Jacksonville to Palatka, 55 miles. 

Live Oak and Rowland's Bluff (now S. F. &W. Ry. ) Completed from 
Live Oak to Gainesville, 68 miles. 

Melrose and Green Cove Springs : from Green Cove Springs, on St. 
Johns River, to jVIelrose, 30 miles. Completed to Sharon, 10 miles. 

Orange Ridge,' De Land and Atlantic : from De Land Landing on St. 
Johns River to New Smyrna oh the Coast, 28 miles. Completed, De Land 
Landing to De Land, 5 miles. 

Pensacola and Atlantic : Pensacola to River Junction, on Chattahoochee 
River, 160 miles. Completed, 160 miles. 

Pensacola and Perdido : Pensacola to Millview, on the Perdido River, 

9 miles. Completed, 9 miles. 

Pensacola and Louisville : Pensacola to Pensacola Junction, on Mobile 
and Montgomery R. R., 36 miles. Completed, 36 miles. 

Savannah, Florida and Western Railway — Florida branch : Dupont, 
Ga., to Live Oak, Fla., 48 miles. Completed, 48 miles. 

South Florida : Sanford to Tampa, 150 miles. Completed, 150 miles. 
Indian River branch : Sanford to Lake Jessup, 7 miles. Completed, 7 
miles. Bartow branch building. 

St. Johns Railroad : Tocoi, on St. Johns River, to St. Augustine, 1 8 
miles. Completed, 18 miles. 

St. Johns and Lake Eustis : Astor, on St. Johns River, to Lane Park, 
on Lake Harris, 35 miles. Completed, 35 miles Building from Fort 
Mason, on Lake Eustis, to Leesburg. 

Total, completed, 1,359 miles. 



RAILROADS BUILDING. 

Florida Railway and Navigation Company : building from Leesburg to 
Plant City and Charlotte Harbor, with branch to Brooksville. 

Florida Southern : building from Leesburg to Pemberton's Ferry, on 
Withlacoochee River. 



Statistical Tables. 153 

International Railway and Steamship Company . Georgia Line to Key- 
West, with branch to Tampa. 

Jacksonville and Atlantic : Jacksonville 'Ji Pablo Beach, on Altantic 
Coast. 

Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West : building from Palatka to San- 
ford. 

* Orange Ridge and Do Land : building east from De Land towards the 
coast. 

Seville and Halifax River : building from Seville, on St. Johns River, 
to Daytona, on Halifax River. 

South Florida, Bartow branch : building from Bartow Junction to 
Bartow. 

Tavares, Orlando and Atlantic : building from Tavares to Orlando. 
Many other Railroads are proposed. 



CANALS. 

Santa Fe Canal : Waldo, on Transit Railroad to Lake Santa Fe, 
10 1-2 miles. Completed. 

Florida Coast Line and Canal Transportation Company : Matanzas 
River, St. John's County, through Smith's Creek to the head of 
Halifax River, and from Mosquito Lagoon to Indian River, 12 miles. 
Building. 

Atlantic and Gulf Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land Company : 
Head of Navigation on Caloosahatchee River, through Lake Okeecho- 
bee to Atlantic Coast, 80 miles. Building. 

Atlantic and Mexican Gulf Canal Company (known as the Barge 
Canal) : Fernandina to New Orleans, through St. Mary's River, Okee- 
finokee Swamp, Suwanee River, and inland water-ways to New Or- 
leans. 

Florida Ship Canal Company : St. John's River to the Gulf Coast. 

TELEGRAPH-LINES. 

International Ocean Telegraph Company : Lake City to Punta 
Rassa, with cable to Key West and Havana. 

Western Union Telegraph Company : On all lines of completed 
railroads 

Apalachicola and Majrianna, 75 miles. 



154 Statistical Tables. 



Xri.— CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC. 



Bishop — Rt. Rev. John Moore, D.D., St. Augustine. Churches, i6; 
priests, secular, ii ; religious women (including novices and postulants), 
66 ; ecclesiastical students, 5 ; chapels, 10 ; stations visited, 70 ; con- 
vents, 9; academies, 8; parochial schools, 16; Cathclic population, 

15,200. 



PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. 



Bishop — Rt. Rev. John Freeman Young, Jacksonville. Churches and 
missions, 49; rectories, 10; value of church property, $222,516.01; 
priests and deacons, 27; membership — Episcopal population, 6,223; 
communicants, i, 994. 

AIETHODIST EPISCOPAL. 

President of Conference — Bishop Thomas Bowman, D.D. , LL.D. 
Churches, 53; parsonages, 13; value of church property, $71,699; 
preachers, 51; membership, 2,695. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL (sOUTH). 

President of Conference — Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh, St. Louis, Mo. 
Churches, 160; parsonage^;, 34; value of church property, $147,360; 
preachers, 161; membership, 14,117. 

BAPTIST. 

President of Convention — Rev. W. N. Chaudoin, Jacksonville. 
Churches, 427 ; white membership, 9, 190 ; colored membership, 16,857 ; 
— total, 26,049; total contributions, $65,959.56. 

PRESBYTERIAN. 

Churches, 13; ministers, 11; membership, 285; value of church 
property, $25,500 — total contributions, $2,550. 

PRESBYTERIAN (sOUTH). 

Churches, 41; ministers, 21; membership, 1,450; Sunday-school 
teachers and pupils, 1,054 ; total contributions, $16,657. 



Statistical Tables. 



155 



XIII.— MASONIC AND OTHER SOCIETIES. 

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS. 

Grand Master — Robert J. Perry, Key West, Monroe County. Lodges, 
81 ; membership, 2,314 ; annual receipts, $2,338. 

Lods;es. 



Jackson 

Washington. . . , 
Harmony 

Joppa ... 

Hiram 

Tuscan 

Bronson 

Pine Hill 

Waldo 

Madison 

Cherry Hill . . . 

Welborn 

Dade 

Escambia 

Santa Rosa . . . . 

Perry 

Duval 

Marion 

Solomon 

Gee 

Withlacoochee . 

Enterprise 

Naval 

Hillsborough. . 

Alachua 

Lake City 

Gadsden 

Micanopy 

Orange City . . 

Manatee 

Callahan 

Tefferson 

Palatka 

Mikes vi He .... 

Orange 

St. Johns 

Chipola 

Citra 

Orion 

Gainesville .... 

Bradford 

Barrett 

Miccosukie. . . . 

Hayward 

Providence .... 

Amelia 

Fort Dade 

Marston 

Shiloh 

Brown 

Lake Butler. . . 



I 

2 
3 
4 

5 
6 

7 
9 
10 
II 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
30 
31 
32 
11 
34 
35 
36 
37 
38 

39 
40 

41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 

47 
48 

49 
50 
51 

y- 



\V. MASTERS. 



Jacob R, Cohen . . . . 
Edw. B. Jordan . . . . 

D. L. McKinnon. . . 
Wm. M. Sanders. , . 
Thos. W. Conrad. . 

K M. Beall 

Lazarus B. Lewis. . 

E. P. Ward 

Sain'l J. Kennard. . 
Angus Paterson . . . . 

Jason Truluck 

J no. H. Campbell. . 

J. J. Delaney 

E. A. Perry 

[no. G. Ellis 

Sam'l D. Waller. . . 
Isador Grunthal. . 
H. H. Schwerin . . . 
Wm. A. McLean. . . 

H. H. Spear 

Joshua T. Godfrey 
Seth S. Bennett . . . 
B. A. Philabert.... 

E. A. Clark 

F. P. Olmstead . . . . 

L. Harrison 

N. T. Scott 

J. T. Miller 

H. J. Hammond . . . 
J. C. Pelot 

G. W. Hodge.s 

J. B. Roach 

W. E. Hansom 

Jno. F. Niblack. . . 

J. J. Combs 

A. L. Wellman .... 

A. Scott 

W. P. Tompkins. . 

A. McMillan 

M. F. Miller 

L. W. Kickliler.... 

W. F. Bynum 

J. H. Smith 

VV. F. Sylvester ... 

J. M. Driver 

F. W. Hoyt 

J. C. Overstreet.. . 

J. W. Stevens 

8. P. Mayo 

N. R. Carter 

M. L. McKinney. . . 



ADDRK.SS. 



Tallahassee. . . 

Quincy 

Marianna 

McCrab ... . 
Monticello . . . . 

Bartow 

Bronson 

Lake Butler . . . 

Waldo 

Madison 

Mikesville .... 

Welborn 

Key West. . . . . 
Pensacola . 

Milton 

Perry 

Jacksonville. . . , 

Ocala 

Jacksonville. . . 
Chattahoochee 

Bellville 

Enterprise 

Warrington . . . 

Tampa 

Newnansville . . 

Lake City 

Concord 

Micanopy 

Orange City . . . 

Manatee 

Callahan 

Waukeenah . . . , 

Palatka 

Mikesville 

Apopka 

De Land 

Greenwood . . . 

Citra 

Vernon 

Gainesville. . . . 

Starke 

Live Oak 

Miccosukie. . . . 

Ellaville 

Providence . . . . , 
Fernandina .... 

Fort Dade 

Fort McCoy 

Hamburg 

Levy ville 

Lake Butler . . . . 



Leon. 

Gadsden. 

Jackson. 

La Fayette. 

Jefferson. 

Polk. 

Levy. 

Bradford. 

Alachua. 

Madison. 

Columbia. 

Suwanee. 

Monroe. 

Escambia. 

Santa Rosa. 

Taylor. 

Duval. 

Marion. 

Duval. 

Gadsden. 

Hamilton. 

Volusia. 

E.scambia. 

Hillsborough. 

Alachua. 

Columbia. 

Gadsden. 

Alachua. 

Volusia. 

Manatee. 

Nassau. 
Jefferson. 

Putnam. 

Columbia. 

Orange. 

Volusia. 

Jackson. 

Marion. 

Washington. 

Alachua. 

Bradford. 

Suwanee. 

Leon. 

Madison. 

Bradford. 

Nassau. 

Hernando. 

Marion. 

Madison. 

Levy. 

Bradford. 



156 



Statistical Tables. 



Lodges. — Co7itmued. 



Friendship 

Old Walton 

Pasco , . . . 

Orange Spring. . 
Campbellton. . . . 

Leesburg 

Kind's Ferry. . . 

Dawkins 

Putnam 

Mellonville 

Walton 

Dr. Feli.K Varela, 

Fort Mason 

Pine Level 

Ezra 

Orlando 

Orient 

Suwanee 

Troy 

Cedar Keys. . . . 
Green Cove Sp. . 
Ancient City. . . . 

Volusia 

Star 

Ebenezer 

Halifax 

Pine 

Stella 

Landmark 

Pine Land 



53 
54 
55 
56 
57 
5^5 
59 
60 
61 
62 

63 
64 

6S 
66 
67 
69 
70 
71 
73 
74 
75 
76 

77 
78 

79 
81 
82 

^l 
84 



W. JIASIEK; 



H. W. Long 

R. C. Moore 

J. A. Taylor 

J. S. Livingston . . . 
A. B. Hamilton 

A. Stivender . . . . . 

Jos.^ Mills, Jr 

U. C. Herndon 

S. E. Timmons . . . . 

J. J. Harris 

D. G. McLeod. 

M. M. Cordero . . . 

B. Dowd 

F. B. Hagan 

F. T. Hurlbert 

W. C. Stubblefield.. 

J. M. Caldwell 

R. W. Adams 

R. B. Hill 

H. C. Schmidt 

J. W. DeWitt 

Roscoe Perry 

Thos. Underbill . . . 

J. C. White 

Wm. Collins 

J. Carreil 

R. L. Caruthers. . . . 

G. H. Thorn 

J. W. Payne 

J. P. Boyd 



Cotton Plant 

Otahite 

Mt. Tabor 

Orange Spring. . . . 

Campbellton 

Leesburg 

King's Ferry 

Sanderson 

Banana 

Sanford 

P^uchee Anna , 

Key West 

Lake Eustis .... 

Pine Level 

Tisonia 

Orlando , 

Jasper 

White Spring 

New Troy " 

Ced?r Keys 

Green Cove Springs 

St. Augustine 

Volusia , 

Bay View , 

Cork , 

Daytona 

Whitesville 

Fruitland 

Lake City 

Palatka 



COUNTY. 



Marion. 

Santa Rosa. 

Jetferson. 

Marion. 

Jackson. 

Sumter. 

Wassau. 

Baker. 

Putnam. 

Orange. 

Walton. 

Monroe. 

Orange. 

Manatee. 

Duval. 

Orange. 

Hamilton. 

Hamilton. 

La Fayette. 

Levy. 

Clay. 

St. John's. 

Volusia. 

Hillsborough. 

Hillsborough. 

Volusia. 

Marion. 

St. John's. 

Columbia. 

Putnam. 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS. 

Grand Master. — M. W. J. A. Hooton, Pensacola, Escambia County. 
Lodges, 13; membership, 420; reliefs, 1883,12,157.23; annual receipts, 
$4,673.75 ; weeks' sickness benefits, 1883, 202. 

Lodges. 



NAME. 


NO. 


N. G. 


ADDRESS. 


COUNTY. 


Florida. ...... 


I 

2 

3 
4 

% 

7 
8 
10 
13 
»5 
16 

17 


Sam. F, Roberts 

D. L. Furgerson, Jr. 
W. M. Girardeau .... 

C. E. McDonald 

W. M. Mcintosh, Sr.. 
A. H. D'Alembert. . 

Jno. Mooney 

Jno. H. Rouch 

Jos. Bartlum 

M. M. Cordero 

Geo. Clark 

S. W. Carroll 


Jacksonville 

Waldo 

Monticello 


Duval. 


Union 


Alachua. 




Jefferson, 
Escambia. 


Pensacola. 


Pensacola 


Tallahassee 


Leon. 




Pensacola 


Escambia. 


Tampa 

Mechanics' 


Tampa ... 


Hillsborough. 


Starke 


Bradford. 


Key West 

Cuba 


Key West 


Monroe. 


Key West 


Monroe. 




Ellaville 


Madison. 






Hamilton. 









Statistical Tables. ^57 



SONS OF TEMPERA^'CE. 



C. C. INIcLean, G. W. P., Jacksonville ; James M. Fairlie, Grand 
Scribe, Jacksonville. 

Subordinate Divisions, 17, located at Jacksonville and its suburbs, 
Bronson, Cedar Keys, and Kingsley's Lake. 



GOOD TEMPLARS. 

This organization is entirely in the hands of the colored people, and 
is operated under the British Grand Lodge. They have a Grand Lodge, 
and numerous subordinate lodges, all over the State. In almost every 
station, circuit, and mission of the African M, E. Church, there are organ- 
ized Temperance Unions actively at work. 

KNIGHTS OF HONOR. 

Albert J. Russell, Grand Dictator, Jacksonville ; Henry J. Stewart, 
Grand Vice Dictator, Jasper ; J. Henr} Fry, Grand Assistant Dictator, 
Palatka ; W.J. Woodward, Grand Reporter, Fernandina. 

Lodges, 15 ; at Jacksonville, Fernandina, Jasper, Madison, Palatka, 
Gainesville, Pensacola, Warrington, Blackwater, Fort Mason and Ocala. 

Membership, about 420. 

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 

Rev. J. L. Lyons, Jacksonville, Superintendent for Georgia and Florida. 
Local agents, 18. 

STATE SUNDAY-SCHOOL ASSOCIATION. 

Rev. T. W. Moore, Monticello, President. 

Sunday-schools, 720; teachers, 3,500; pupils, 25,100; county organ- 
izations, 9. 

SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION OF FLORIDA. 

Dr. W. A. Spence, President, Jacksonville ; W. A. Buchanan, Secretary, 
Jacksonville. 

Membership, 60. 



158 



Statistical Tables. 



ABSTRACT OF THE 



Comparative State^nent of Population. — A7ea of Lands Assessed. - 



Namk of C'ouniv. 



Alachua 

Baker 

Bradford 

Brevard 

Calhoun .. 

Clay 

Columbia 

Dade 

Duval ...... 

Escambia. . . . 

Franklin 

Gadsden 

Hamilton. . . . 

Hernando 

Hillsborough 

Holmes 

Jackson 

Jefferson 

Lafayette . . . . 

Leon 

Levy 

Liberty 

Madison 

Manatee. . . . . 

Marion 

Monroe 

Nassau 

Orange 

Polk 

Putnam 

St. Johns 

Santa Rosa. . . 

Sumter, 

Suwanee 

Taylor 

Volusia 

Wakulla 

Walton 

Washington . 

Total 



1,462 

,303 
1,112 
,478 
.580 



12,150 
1-791 

1 2", 069 



6,261 
4.535 
6.645 



269.493 



26,25s 
2,895 

*8oOo 
2,376 
2,094: 

4i3i7 
11,187! 

332 j 
21,955' 
17,050 
2,297 
11,400 
7.255 
7,173 
8.285 
3.223 
16,728 

13.573 
4,030 

17-375 
6,678 
1,325 

I -.697 
5.484 

°20,000 
15,040 

8,6ig 

1S.425 
6,623 

9.572 
5,714 
7.432 
9,427 
8. 876 
2,182 
6,667 
2,896 
4,747 



346,799 



9,793 
592 



514 
1,479 
1,598 
75 
2,524 
4.894 

506 



2,925 
2,471 
1,053 
2.356 



1,940 
6,954 
4,100 
1.984 
8,807 
3.442 
3.3" 
1,179 
787 
4,741 
1.715 



■373 
173! 
5461 



81,083 



763 



492 
2,287 



^ 







S-3 






■" Jj 
K 




"^ 5 


0^- 




<6 


" 5 


S-o 


sJ 


J2 V 


3 


3 k 


Y-. 


^c 


537,575 


29,156 


29s,c6i 


3,447 


277,546 


19,123 


382,558 


1.791 


389,610 


2,024 


238.428 


3.954 


487,591 


44,5 


84,988 


123 


35',787 


4.669 


315,080 


666 


343-565 


2,677 


867,000 


30,745 


238,193 


32,641 


1,641,790 


8,273 


580,835 


7,021 


59,826 


1,838 


302,567 


50,386 


349,768 


117,913 


.= 85,912 


5,787 


387.167 


111,214 


499,954 


9.590 


497,366 


2,945 


402,176 


81,944 


952,414 


3 415 


1,177.483 


17,029 


124,872 


1,000 


354.299 


4,168 


771,032 


16,440 


423,196 


7.288 


257.125 


99,611 


282,548 


2,827 


410,411 


1,196 


371,431 


11,463 


333,965 


24,087 


327,970 


624 


214,388 


10,919 


335,121 


11,80 


156,858 




493,726 


5.994 


7,103,182 


790,298 



5 aj — C =5 



o H 
la a >, 



$2,195,488 
261,135 
530,424 
609,512 
23 ,300' 
454,679 
721,730 
68,445 
1,913,620 
848,827 

61,573 

663,248 

504,292 

1,204,097 

1,144,808 

53,541 

790,339 

923.750 

333-7.54 

1,072.951 

385,699 

263.999 

918,035 

861,058 

2,393,204 

62,4361 

879.24S1 

2,200,358 

1.122 758 

1,258.32 

419-595: 

611,4761 

i,505,245j 

918,150 

347.455 
1,661,965 
242 260 
118.713 
186,727 






$560,93 i 

",725 
90,400 
23,010 

329.15s 
135,079 



$30,963,225 



2.905,760 

1,506,457 

134,452 

81,418 

40,445 

23,305 

183,635 

2,875 

108,065 

190,465 

2,055 

435,845 

471,483 

i.ii6 

82,670 

2,060 

662,555 

941,107 

473.296 

696,825 

59,°2S 

671,705 

492,125 

I20-S57 
152,656 

115,555 
4,326 

234,265 
3,210 
7,865 
10,060 

fi 1,563,442 



* Estimated. Returns not in. 



Statistical Tables. 



159 



STATE CENSUS FOR 1885. 

Value of Real and Personal Estate fnmi Tax Returns of 1884. 



e of Real 
erty. 


3 
IS 


5 


« 

0. 


C 
V3 


E 
'5 
< 


u. 

1) u 

■£ 9 
Oo 


ate Value of all 
inal Property. 




8 

x: 
c 


a; 

SI 

C 







0^ 


1- 




"0 


"0 


=5^ 






a 


H& 




lU a- 


u iL 


4) 


« 




° c 


M" 


bcv 


E-" 


^ 




Xi V 


Xlt/3 


.C 


.Q 


11 


(u c 


a £ 


j^a. 






3 






5 


S 


E 

3 


_3 


3 <f. 


\l 






c 
3 



E- 


A 


2; 
18,047 


Z 


J5 . 


> 


"^ 


"' 


(h 


U 


$2,756,423 


2,524 


2,242 


9.138 


$260,774 


•^423, 293 


$684,067 


^3,440,490 


1.004 


$.012 


272,860 


375 


7,222 


620 


4,284 


73,483 


248.269 


321,752 


594,612 


.004 


.010 


620,824 


1,197 


11,463 


2.708 


9,232 


164,252 


3.57-833 


522,0,S5 


1,142,909 


.004 


.006 


632,522 


263 


39,276 




1,052 


219.930 


87,810 


307,740 


940,262 


.004 


,010 


230.300 


178 


5,494 


2',798 


3,292 


51,201 


31,436 


82,637 


312,937 


.004 


.010 


783,834 


519 


8.418 


244 


4,086 


87.330 


412,725 


500,055 


1,283.889 


.004 


.007 >^ 


856,809 


1,790 


11,644 


2.087 


9913 


197.846 


219,030 


416,876 


1,273,685 


.004 


,010 


68,445 
4,819,380 


29 

861 






30 
1.436 


1,164 
111,364 


11,755 
1,235,806 


12,919 
1,347,170 


81,364 
6,166,550 


.004 


.009 


5.539 


471 


.004 


.011 


2^355.284 


716 


5,996 


8,512 


2,386 


110,893 


1,009 375 


1,120,268 


3.475.552 


.004 


.009 


196,025 


31 


1,670 


167 


233 


11,682 


106,413 


118,095 


314.120 


.004 


.009 


744,666 


I.055 


6,800 


1,956 


6,330 


120,986 


127.128 


248,114 


992.780 


.004 


.008 


544,737 


948 


6,871 


2,219 


7,173 


149,880 


329,368 


479,'48 


1,023,985 


.C04 


.0061/2 


1,227,402 


1,333 


17,575 


2,806 


9,199 


161. 621 


194,917 


356.538 


1,583.946 


.004 


.007 


1,328,443 


1,130 


21,868 


2,716 


5.712 


210,418 


572-462 


782.880 


2.111,323 


.004 


■005X 


56,416 


253 


5.606 


10,278 


4,281 


63,961 


212,577 


276,538 


332,954 


.004 


.010 


898,404 


1.397 


10,762 


7.326 


10,278 


172,757 


261,749 


434,506 


1,332,910 


.004 


.009 


1,114,215 


1,769 


6,013 


1,419 


8,213 


168.025 


2IO,oSo 


378.105 


1,492,320 


.004 


.oo9>^ 


355.809 


546 


12,147 


538 


8,753 


220,750 


56,655 


177-405 


533,214 


.004 


.009 


1,508,796 


1.929 


6,191 


1,694 


5,708 


163,109 


265,744 


428,823 


1,937-619 


.004 


.01 I 14 


857,182 


1,024 


1 1 ,407 


423 


5,356 


124,806 


192,754 


317.560 


1,174,742 


.004 


.007 


265,115 


168 


4,881 


1,581 


2,771 


46,925 


17,647 


64,572 


329,687 


.004 


.011% 


1,600,705 


2,008 


9,939 


2,562 


14,058 


211,352 


251,693 


463,045 


1,463,750 


,004 


.012 


863.118 


888 


72.894 


3.025 


7,218 


4i2,572 


192.140 


644.712 


1.507,830 


,004 


.006 


2.655,759 


2,278 


18,344 


2,828 


9.885 


264,200 


364.173 


628.373 


3.284,132 


,004 


.010 ' 


1,003,543 


146 


29.602 


"5 


57 


157,377 


343,210 


500,587 


1,504,130 


.C04 


.008 


1,352.544 


619 


8,913 


1,800 


3,624 


117,863 


303,879 


418,742 


1,771,286 


,004 


.009X 


2,897,186 


1,706 


15,583 


139 


3.328 


204,503 


1,133.446 


1,337-949 


4,235,132 


.C04 


.010 


1,181,783 


950 


24,108 


1,651 


7-134 


225.421 


279.149 


504,573 


1,686,353 


.004 


.01014 


1.930,027 


639 


5, -07 


7 


1,307 


76,477 


591,383 


667,860 


2,597,887 


.004 


.009 14 


911,720 


688 


7,440 


970 


1,301 


65.479 


143.132 


208,611 


1,120,331 


.00.4 


.008 


732,033 


699 


13,402 


'3.518 


3,990 


153,174 


298,373 


451,547 


1,183,580 


.004 


.009 


1,657,901 


1,606 


10,738 


2,117 


5,042 


169,843 


653.776 


823,619 


2,481,520 


.oo<^ 


.008 


1,033,705 


1.618 


12,203 


1,610 


8,760 


192.337 


260,208 


452,54s 


1,486,250 


.004 


.008 


351,78 


338 


8205 


709 


6,623 


77,525 


28,193 


105.718 


457,499 


,004 


.014 


1,892,230 


Zi-i 


11,409 


III 


2,594 


122,023 


339.747 


461,770 


2,354,000 


,004 


.010 


^45,379 


461 


6,534 


529 


5.169 


78,247 


91.317 


169.564 


414,943 


,004 


.oo8>j 


126,578 


532 


12,693 


16,942 


6,795 


135.742 


407,158 


542.900 


669,478 


.004 


.oo7><J 


190.787 


357 


9,040 


5,184 


6.096 
211,827 


90, III 


211,776 


301.887 


498,674 


.004 


.007 


$42, 526,667 


36.386 


501,414 


106,622 


% ,587,403 


|i2.474,549 


$18,061,952 


$60,588,619 







i6o 



Statistical Tables. 



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t64 



Statistical Tables. 



TABLE XVII.— FLORIDA POST-OFFICES. 

County-sites in italics. HFoncy- Order Offices dctwted thus : * 





ALACHUA. 




Archer* 


Hawthorne * 


Newnansville 


Arredondo 


Island Grove 


Orange Heights 


Campville 


Joella 


Palmer 


Evinston 


Jonesville 


Phoenix 


Fairbanks 


La Crosse 


Trenton 


Frankland 


Lochloosa 


Waldo * 


Gahiesville * 


Louise 


Windsor 


'Grove Park 


Melrose 


Yulee 


Gruelle 


Micanopy * 

BAKER. 




Darbyville 


Glen St. Mary 
Olustee 

BRADFORD. 


Sanderson 


Burrin 


Lawtey 


Temples Mills 


Hampton 


Providence 


Waverly 


Lake Btitler 


Santa Fe 
Starke 

BREVARD. 


Worthington 


■Canaveral 


La Grange 


New Haven 


City Point 


Malabar 


Rock Ledge 


Eau Gallic 


Melbourne 


St. Lucie 


Eden 


Micco 


Titusville * 


Georgianna 


Narrows 


Tropic 


Haulover 


CALHOUN. 




Abe's Spring 


lola 


West Wynnton 


Chipola 


Marysville 

CLAY. 


Wewahitchka 


•Green Cove Spring 


Lakeside 


Novella 


Hibernia 


McRae 


Orange Park 


Highland 


Magnolia 


Sharon 


Kingsley 


Middleburg 

COLUMBIA. 


Wilderness 


Barrsville 


Lake City'' 


Mount Carrie 


Benton 


Leno 


Mount Tabor 


Blount's Ferry 


Mikesville 


Suwanee Shoals 


Fort White 


DADE. 


- 


Biscayne 


Lake Worth 
Miami 


Waveland 



Statistical Tables. 



165 



• 


DUVAL. 




Baldwin 


Jacksonville * 


Oklahoma 


Beauclerc 


Mandarin * 


Philips 


Chaseville 


Maxville 


Register 


Fort George 


Mayport 


St. Nicholas 


Fulton 

• 


New Berlin 

ESCAMBIA. 


Tisonia 


Bluff Springs 


Millview 


Pine Barren 


Escambia 


Molino 


Powelton 


Ferry Pass 


Olive 


Warrington 


Mc David 


Pensacola * 

FRANKLIN. 




Apalachicola 


Brick Yard 
Carrabelle 

GADSD'EN 


St. Teresa 


Alamo 


Glen Julia 


Quincy 


Chattahoochee 


Midway 


Scotland 


Concord 


River Junction 

HAMILTOl 




Baker's Mill 


Hamilton 


Marion 


Belleville 


Jasper 


Tyner 


Belmont 


Jennings 

HERNANDO 


White Spring 


Anclote 


Gulf Key 


Oriole 


Bayport 


Hatton 


San Antonio 


Brooksville * 


Hernando 


Scrub 


Chipco 


Hudson 


Stage Pond 


Crystal River 


Istachatta 


Tompkinsville 


Ellerslie 


Lecanto 


Tuckertown 


Floral City 


Lenard 


Wiscoa 


Fort Dade* 


Mannfield 

HILLSBOROUGH. 




Alafia 


Disston 


Peru 


Anona 


Dunedin 


Pinellas 


Bay View 


John's Pass 


Plant City 


Bloomingdale 


Keystone Park 


Tampa * 


Cork 


Keysville 


Tarpon Spring- 


Clear Water Harbor 


Limona 
Mango 

HOLMES. 


Yellow Bluff 


Bon i fay 


Izagora 


Westville 


Cerro Gordo 


Ponce de Leon 





1 66 



Statistical Tables. 



JACKSON. 



Campbellton 
Cottondale 
Cypress 
Dellwood 


Graceville 
Greenwood 
Haywood's Landing 
Mariatina * 


Neal's Landing 
Ochesee 
Sampson 
Snead's 




JEFP^ERSON. 




Aucilla 
Beazley 


Lloyd's 
Monticello * 
Pinhook 

LA FAYETTE. 


Wacissa 
Waukeenah 


Hatch's Bend 
McCrab 


Mayo 
New Troy 

LEON. 


Old Town 
Steinhatchee 


Bloxham 

Braden 

Bradfordville 


Centreville 

lamonia 

Miccosukie 

LEVY. 


Sunny Hill 
Tallahassee * 


Atsena Otie 
Bronson * 
Cedar Key 


Gulf Hammock 
Levy vi He 
Otter Creek 

LIBERTY. 


Rosewood 
Williston 


Bristol 


Coe's Mills 
Orange 

MADISON. 


Rock Bluff 


Ellaville * 
Greenville 


Hamburg 
Lee 

Madison * 

MANATEE. 


Mosely Hall 
West Farm 


Arcadia 
Braidentown 
Charlotte Harbor 
Davidson 
Fort Greene 
Fort Ogden 


Liverpool 

McMullen 

Maltese 

Manatee 

Miakka 

Osprey 

Palma Sola 


Palmetto 

Parish 

Fine Level 

Popash 

Rye 

Sarasota 



Statistical Tables. 



167 





MARION. 




Anthony Place 


Flemington 


Orange Springs 


Bellview 


Fort McCoy 


Reddick 


Boardman 


Grahamsville 


Santos 


Camp Izard 


Harvard 


Silver Spring 


Candler 


Heidtville 


South Lake Weir 


Citra 


Lake Weir 


Sparr 


Cotton Plant 


Martin 


Stanton 


Eastlake 


Moss Bluft" 


Summit 


Eureka 


Ocala * 


Welshton 


Fantville 


Ocklawaha 


Whitesville 


Fellowship 


Orange Lake 

MONROE. 




Alva 


Largo 


Punta Rassa 


Key West* ■ 


Ft. Myers 

NASSAU. 




Boulogne 


Crav'ford 


Hart's Road 


Brandy Branch 


Button 


Hilliard 


Callahan 


Evergreen 


Italia 


Crandall 


Fernandina * 

ORANGE. 


King's Ferry 


Acron 


Kissimmee 


Ponceannah 


Altamonte 


Lake Irma 


Ravenswood 


Altoona 


Lake Jessup 


Sanford * 


Apopka* 


Lake Maitland 


Seneca 


Bryan ville 


Lakeville 


Shingle 


Campbell 


Longwood 


Snowville 


Cassia 


Mac Kinnon 


Sorrento 


Eustis* 


Merrimack 


Spring Grove 


Forest City 


Moody 


Sylvan Lake 


Fort Mason 


Oakland 


Tangerine 


Fort Reed * 


Ocoee 


Tavares 


Geneva 


Orlando * 


Troy 


Glendale 


Oviedo 


Umatilla 


Gotha 


Paola 


Willcox 


Hawkinsville 


Penryn 


Winter Park 


Higley 


Pine Castle 


Zellwood 


Indian Springs 


Pittman 

POLK. 




Acton 


Chicora 


Medulla 


Auburndale 


Fort Meade* 


Sanitaria 


Bartow 


Horse Creek 


Wahneta 


Brandon 


Lakeland 





i68 



Statistical Tables. 





PUTXAM. 




Banana 


Interiachen 


Palatka * 


Bridg'eport 


Johnson 


Penn 


Buffalo Bluff 


Keuka 


Pomona 


Cone 


Lake Como 


Putnam Hall 


Crescent City 


Lake George 


Ridgewood 


De Soto 


MacWilliams 


San Mateo 


Drayton Island 


McMeekin 


Satsuma 


Eton i ah 


Mannville 


Sauble 


Federal Point 


Mt. Royal 


Syracuse 


Francis 


Nashua 


Verdiere Point 


Fruitland 


Norwalk 


Welaka 


Georgetown * 


Orange Mills 

ST. JOHNS. 


Westonia 


Carterville 


Orange Dale 


St. A ugustine * 


Fruit Cove 


Picolata 


Switzerland 


Matanzas 


Racy Point 


Tocoi 


Moultrie 


Remington Park 

SANTA ROSA. 




Blackwater 


Holt 


Oak Grove 


Chaffin 


Mary Esther 


Otahite 


Eagan 


Milton * 

SUMTER. 




Astabula 


Leesburg* 


Silverton 


Bamboo 


Minneola 


Sligh 


Bloomfield 


Montclair 


Sumterville * 


Centre Hill 


Okahumkee 


Webster 


Exeter 


Orange Home 


West Apopka 


Lady Lake 


Oxford 


Wildwood 


Lane Park 


Panasoffkee 

SLTWANNEE. 


Yalaha 


Bellton 


Live Oak* 


Pine Mount 


Branford 


Luraville 


Poplar 


Dicey 


McAlpin 


Rixford 


Ichetucknee 


Newburn 


Suwannee 


Houston 


O'Brine Station 


Welborn 


Little River 


Padlock 

Taylor. 


Wilson 


Perry 


Shady Grove 


Stephensville 


Salem 


Spring Warrior 





Statistical Tables. 



169 





VOLUSIA. 




Barberville 


Glencoe 


Osteen 


Beresford 


Harwood 


Ponce Park 


Blake 


Holly Hill 


Port Orange 


Daytona * 


Lake Helen 


Seville 


De Land 


New Smyrna 


Spring Garden 


Eldora 


Oak Hill 


Spring Garden Centre 


Emporia 


Orange City * 


Volusia 


Enterprise 


Ormond 

WAKULLA. 


Winnemissett 


Crawfordville 


St. Mark's 


Sopchoppy 


Curtis Mills 


Smith's Creek 

WALTON. 


Wakulla 


Argyle 


Freeport 


Natural Bridge 


Bethel 


Lake de Funiak 


Portland 


Crestview 


Limestone 


Red Bay 


Euchee Anna 


Mossy Head 

WASHINGTON. 


Sterling 


Caryville 


Miller's Ferry 


St. Andrew's Bay 


Chipley 


Point Washington 


Vernon 


Econfina 


Porter 





170 



Statistical Tables. 



XVIII. —A LIST OF THE FOREST TREES OF FLORIDA. 

Comprising iSo Species, or 42 per cent, of all fou7id in the United States. 



Prepared by Prof. A. H. CuRTiss, Agt. loth Census, 
Department of Forestry. 



Explanations : In the subjoined table are given, in the 

First Column — Botanical names of species and of orders, the latter in CAPITALS. 

Second Column — Names most commonly used in Florida, In this particular popular 
usage is inaccurate and often conflicting. Opposite the ordinal names is given the num- 
ber of species found in Florida and in the United vStates (e.g., " Magnoliacese, 4-8," 
may be read thus, In Florida there are four of the eight Magnoliaceous trees of the 
United States). 

TJiird Column — Greatest diamter observed by me, the measurements (expressed in 
inches) being made four feet from the ground. 

Fourth Column — Weight in pounds (omitting fractions) of a cubic foot of kiln-dried 
wood (according to Prof. Sargent's tests). 

Fifth Column — The figure i designates West Indian Trees found in sub- tropical 
Florida; 2, trees which, in Florida, are confined to the Chattahoochee region, or s, 
which taper out in the central part of the peninsula. The letters added to i indicate 
that those trees extend northward along the eastern coast to (c) Cape Canaveral, or (m) 
Mosquito Inlet; and on the western coast to (r) Cape Romano, (h) Charlotte Harbor 
or the Caloo>ahatchie, (t) Tampa Bay or Anclote Keys. An s at the right of this 
column, indicate that the tree grows usually in swamps or low grounds. 



IJOTANICAL NAME. 



MAGNOLIACE^. 
Magnolia grandiflora 

glauca 

Fraseri 

Linodendron Tulipifera 

ANONACE/E. 
Anona laurifolia 

CAPPARIDACE^. 
Capparis Jamaicensis 

CANELLACE/E. 
Canella alba 

TERNSTRCEMIACE^. 
Gordonia Lasianthus 

TILIACE^. 
Tilia Americana pubescens. . . 

MALPIGHIACEyE. 
Byrsonema lucida 



COMMON NAME. 



4-8 

Magnolia 

White Bay 

Cucumber Tree 

Poplar, White Wood 

1—2 
Pond Apple 12 

I — I 



Cape 



I — I 

Cinnamon Bark 



I — 2 
Tan Bay, Bull Bay 

1—3 
Linn, Basswood . . . 



I — I 

Glamberry. 



31 

6 43 j I c 
62 ! I 

30J 

26 j 2 s 
10 i 37 I I 



Statistical Tables. 



171 



List 0/ the Forest Trees of Florida. — Continued. 



BOTANICAL NAMES. 



ZYGOPHYLLACE/E 
Guaiacum sanctum 

RUTACEvE. 
Xanthoxylum Clava-Hcrculis . 

Cariboeum 

Pterota 

Ptelia trifoliata 

SIMARUBE^. 
Simaruba glauca 

BURSERACE^. 

Bursera gummifera 

Amyris sylvatica 

MELTACE^. 
Swietenia Mahogoni 

AURANTIACEiE. 
Citrus vulgaris 

OLACIN^ 
Ximenia Americana , 

ILICIN^.. 

Ilex opaca , 

Dahoon , 

myrtifolia 

Cassine 

decidua 

CYRILLACEyE. 

Cyrilla racemiflora 

Cliftonia ligustrina 

CELASTRACE^, 
Myginda pallens , 

Schaefferia frutescens 

RHAMNACE/E. 

Reynosia latifolio , 

Condalia ferrea 

Rhamnus Caroliniana 

Colubrina reclinata 

SAPINDACE/E. 

Sapindus Saponaria 

Hypelate paniculata 

trifoliata 

Acer saccharinum nigrun\. . . , 

dasycarpum , 

rubrum 

Negundo aceroides , . 



COMMON NAME. 



I — 2 

Lignum Vitre . 



4—7 

Prickly Ash 

Satin Wood, Yellow Wood 

Wild Lime 

Hop Tree 



I — I 

Bitter Wood, Paradise Tree. 

2 — 2 
Gum Elemi, W. Ind. Birch. 
Torchwood 



I — I 

Mahogany , 

I — I 

Orange . . . 



Purge Nut, Hog Plum 7 57 , m T 



5—5 

Holly 

Broad-leaved Yaupon. . 
Narrow-leaved Yaupon 

Cassina 

Possum Haw 



2 — 2 
Titi, Leatherwood . . . . 
Titi, Buckwheat Tree 



2—3 
False Boxwood 
Boxwood 



4—7 
Darling Plum . . . 
Black Ironwood. 

Buckthorn 

Soldier Wood . . . 



7 — 20 
Bastard Dogwood .... 

Ink Wood 

White Ironwood 

Black or Sugar Maple. 
White or Silver Maple. 
Red or Swamp Maple. 
Box Elder 



u 


►J 








H 




K 


< 





Q 


& 


12 


71 


12 


32 


15 


56 


7 


46 


4 


52 


24 


26 


28 


iq 


9 


65 


36 


45 


10 




7 


57 


16 


35 


8 


33 


4 


43 


4 


46 


6 




6 


42 


10 


39 


6 


56 


7 


48 


8 


68 


20 


81 


5 


34 


Z^ 


51 


20 


52 


18 


60 


22 


57 


15 


43 


20 


33 


22 


39 


14 


27 



I 

I C H 



I C H 
I C 



I R 
I M 



172 



Statistical Tables. 

List of the Forest Trees of Florida. — Continued 



KOTANICAL NAME. 



ANACARDIACE/E. 

Kims copallina , 

Metopium . 



LEGUMINOS,4i. 

Piscidia Erythrina 

Gleditschia triacanthos. . . .. 

raonospenna 

Cercis Canadensis 

Lysiloma latisiliqua 

Pithecolobium Unguis-Cati. 

ROSACEzE, 

Chrysobalanus Icaco 

Prunus Americana 

angustifolia 

umbellata 

serotina 

Caroliniana 

sphrerocarpa 

Pirus angustifolia 

Crataegus coccinea 

tomentosa 

arborescens 

spathulata 

flava 



HAMAMELACE^. 
Liquid ambar styraciflua .... 



RHIZOPHORACE^. 

Rhizophora Mangle 

Conocarpus erecla 

Laguncularia racemosa 



MYRTACE.E, 
Calyptranthes Chy traculia . 
Eugenia buxifolia 

dichotoma 

monticola 

longipes 

procera 



CORNACEiE. 

Cornus florida , 

Nyssa sylvatica 

uniflora 



CAPRIFOLIACEyE. 

Sambucus Canadensis , 

Viburnum prunifolium 

obovatum 



COMMON N.\.MK. 



2—8 

Sumac 
Poi-son Wood . 



6 — 25 
Jamaica Dogwood. 

Honey Locust 

Water Locust 

Red Bud 

Wild Tamarind . . . 
Loncf Cod 



Sweet Gum . 



Mangrove 

Button Wood 

Bastard Buttonwood. 



6—6 

Pimento 

Gurgeon Stopper. 

Naked Wood 

White Stopper . . . 

Stopper 

Red Stopper 



3-6 

Dogwood 

Black or Sour Gum . , 
Tupelo, Cotton Gum. 



3-6 

Elder 

Black Haw.. 
Swamp Haw. 



24 



13—34 

Cocoa Plum 12 

Wild Plum, Sloe 

Yellow Chickasaw Plum . . , 

Hog; Plum 

Wild Cherry 

Mock Olive 

West Lidian Cherry 

Crab-apple 

Scarlet Thorn or Haw .... 

Black Thorn or Haw 

Tree Thorn or Haw 

Hog's Haw 

Yellow or Summer Haw . . . 



2 s 

2 s 
I 

I II 



I M T S 
I C T S 
I C T S 



I 

I C li 

I M H 

I M 

I 

I 



Statistical Tables. 



^71 



List of the Forest Trees of Florida. — Continued. 



BOTANICAL NAME. 



RUBIACEyE. 
Exostemma Cariba^um . . . 

Pinckneya pubens 

Genipa clusiaefolia 

Guettarda elliptica 

ambiVua 



ERICACEAE. 

Vaccinium arboreum 

Andromeda ferruginea. . . 
Oxydendrum arboreum. . . 



MYRSINACE^. 

Myrsine Rapanea 

Ardisia Pickeringia . . 

Jacqulnia armillaris 



SAPOTACE/E. 
Chrysophyllum oliviforme . . . 
Sideroxylon mastichodendron . 

Dipholis sahcifolia 

Bumelia tenax 

lycioides 

cuneata 

Mimusops Sieberi 



EBENACE^. 
Diospyros Virginiana 



STYRACACE/E. 

Symplocos tinctoria 

Halesia diptera 

tetraptera 



OLEACE/E. 
Fraxinus Americana 

viridis. ... 

platycarpa 

Forestiera acuminata . . . . . 
Chionanthus Virginica. . . 
Osmanthus Americanus. . 



BORRAGINACE.E. 

Cordia Sebestena 

Bourreria Havanensis 



BIGNONIACE/E. 

Catalpa bignonioides 

Crescentia cucurbitina 



VERBENACE/E\ 

Citharexylum villosum 

Avicennia nitida 



COMMON NAME. 



5—5 

Prince Wood 

Georgia Bark. . . . 
Seven- Year Apple. 
Naked Wood 



Sparkle berry . 



Sour Wood . 



False Candle Wood 
Marl Berry, Cherry. 
Toe-wood 



7-8 

Satin Leaf 

Mastic 

Bustic 

Black Haw 

Iron wood, Mock Orange 

Ants' Wood, Downwood Plum 
Wild Sapadillo, Dilly 



I — 2 

Persimmon . 



Sweet Leaf 

Snow-drop Tree. 



6-15 

White Ash 

Green or Swamp Ash. . . . 

Water Ash . 

Privet 

Fringe Tree 

Devil Wood, Wild Olive. 



2—4 

Geiger Tree. 
.Strong Back. 



2—4 

Catalpa . 
Calabash. 



o 

•A 










H 










< 


o 






o 


> 



Black Mangrove. 



8 


58 


.5 


?>7s 


5 


64 


8 


52 


4 


55 


4 


47 


8 


48 


6 


46 


6 


52 


6 


^4 


6 


43 


12 


S8 


.S6 


6^ 


24 


58 


8 


45 


ID 


47 


ID 


';o 


15 


68 


12 


49 


10 


.3,1 


7 


36 


5 


35 


7)- 


41 


18 


44 


12 


22 


10 


42 


6 


40 


12 


51 


12 


45 


8 


50 


12 


28 


6 


39 


6 


54 


24 


57 



I M H 

I .>r H 



I C II 
I C R 
I 



I C 
I 



2 
2 S 



I C 
I Ml 



174 



Statistical Tables. 



List of the Forest Trees of Florida. — Continued. 



BOTANICAL NAME. 



NYCTAGINACE^. 
Pisonea obtusata 



POLYGOXACE^. 

Coccoloba Florid ana 

uvifera 



LAURACE/E. 

Persea Carolinensis 

Carolinensis palustris. 
Nectandra VVilldenoviana . 
Sassafras officinale 



EUPHORBLA.CE.E. 

Drypetes crocea 

glauca 

Sebastiania lucida 

Hippomane manciiiella 



URTICACE/E. 
Ulmus fulva 

Americana 

alata 

Planera aquatica 

Celtis occidentalis 

Ficus aurea 

brevifolia . 

pedunculata 

Morus rubra .... 

Sponia macranthea 



PLATANACE/E. 
Platanus occidentalis 



JUGLANDACE/E. 

Juglans nijj;ra 

Carya alba 

tomentosa 

porcina 

amara 

aquatica 



MYRICACE^. 
Myrica cerifera , 



CUPULIFER^. 

Quercus alba 

stellata 

lyrata 

Michauxii 

virens 

coccinea [ Scarlet Oak 

tinctoria j Black or Quercitron Oak. 



COMMON NAME. 



Beef Wood . 



2 — 2 

Pigeon Plum. 
Sea Grape. . . 



4—5 
Red Bay. Sweet Bay 

Swamp Bay 

Lance Woutl 

Sassafras 



4—4 
White Wood . 
Guiana Plum 
Crab Wood . . 
Manchineel . . . 



10—14 

Slippery Elm 

White Elm, Swamp Elm. 

Wahoo, Red Elm 

Water Elm 

Hackberry 

Wild Fiu, Rubber Tree . . 



Red Mulberry. , 
False Mulberry 



1—3 
Sycamore, Button-ball. 



6— II 

Black Walnut 

Shell Bark Hickory 

Red Hickory 

Pig Nut Hickory . 
Bitter Nut Hickory. 
Swamp Hickory . , . 



Wax Myrtle. 



17—44 

White Oak 

Post Oak 

Over-cup Oak 

Swamp Chestnut Oak . 
Live Oak 



CJ 


u5 


/. 


^ 








h 


^ 


—, 


< 


c 


u 


'$■ 


18 


41 


24 


61 


24 


60 


36 


40 


12 




6 


48 


6 


32 


eNe 


14 58 


7 68 


12 37 


12 


44 


24 


41 


22 


47 


12 


33 


24 


4S 


48 


16 


12 


40 


22 




24 


37 


6 


22 


84 


37 


27 


38 


48 


S-2 


^4 


SI 


08 


S2 


36 


47 


24 


45 


12 


35 


36 


46 


24 


51 


32 


52 


60 


52 


96 


59 


27 


46 


3& 


44 



I C R 
I M T 



1 C R 

2 S 



I R 
I 



2 

2 S 



Statistical Tables. 



175 



List of the Forest Trees 0/ Florida. — Continued, 



BOTANICAL NAME. 



CUPULIFER.E.— Continued. 
Quercus falcata 

Catesbagi 

aquatica 

nigra 

cinerea 

Phellos 

Castanea pumila 

Fagus ferruginea , 

Ostrya Virginica 

Carpinus Caroliniana , , . , 



BETULACEiE. 

Betula nigra 

Alnus serrulata 



SALICACE^. 

Salix nigra , 

Populus monilifera 



CASUARINACE^. 
Casuarina equisetifolia 



CONIFERS. 
Chamgecyparis sphoeroidea. 

Juniperus Virginiana 

Taxodium distichum 

Taxus Flondana 

Torreya laxifolia 

Pinus Tseda 

serotina 

inops, var. clausa. . . . 

mitis . . 

glabra 

australis 

Cubensis , , , 



PALMACE^, 

Sabal Pahnetto 

Thrinax parviflora 

argentea 

Oreodoxa regia 

Cocos nucifera 



COMMON NAME. 



17—44 

Spanish Oak, Red Oak. 
Black Jack, Scrub Oak . . 

Swamp Oak 

Black Jack, Barren Oak. 
Turkey Oak, Blue Jack. 

Water Oak 

Chinquapin 

Beech 

Hop Hornbeam 

Hornbeam, Iron wood . . , 



2 — 12 
Black Birch, River Birch. 
Alder 



2—25 
Black Willow. 
Cottonwood . . 



I — I 
Australian Pine. 



12-83 

Juniper, White Cedar 

Red Cedar 

Cypress 

Florida Yew 

Savin, Stmking Cedar , 

Loblolly or Old Field Pine. 

Pond Pine 

Upland Spruce Pine 

Short-leaved Yellow Pine.. 

Lowland Spruce Pine 

Long-leaved Yellow Pine. . . 
Pitch Pine .,,,,,,,, 



5-6 
•Palmetto, Cabbage Tree, 

Silver Thatch 

Prickly Thatch 

Royal Palm 

Cocoa Nut 



43 
45 
45 
46 
40 
47 
37 
43 
52 
45 



36 
29 

28 
24 



57 



12 

24 
84 
4 
IS 
36 
24 
20 

24 
32 
48 

36 



18 
4 

7 

24 
18 



27 
37 
45 
38 

-^6 



I 
I 

I R 
I 



1/6 



Statistical Tables. 



XIX.— SCHOOL 'STATISTICS. 

The following table shows the number of schools, the number of 
children attending school, and the amount of money collected for school 
purposes for the years named. 



COUNTIES. 



Alachua 

Baker 

Bradford 

Brevard 

Calhoun 

Clay 

Columbia . . . . 

Dade 

Duval 

Escambia 

Franklin 

Gadsden 

Hamilton 

Hernando. . . . 
Hillsborough. 

Holmes 

Jackson 

Jefferson 

Lafayette 

Leon 

Levy 

Liberty 

Madison 

Manatee 

Marion 

Monroe 

Nassau 

Orange 

Polk 

Putnam 

Santa Rosa. . . 

St. Johns 

Sumter 

Suwanee 

Taylor 

Volusia 

Wakulla 

Walton 

Washington . . 



Total. 



NUMBER 
OF SCHOOLS. 



1876. 1884. 



29 

6 

13 
6 

7 

7 

24 

43 

15 
2 

35 
8 
22 
26 
10 
34 
25 
15 
43 
23 
8 

33 
17 
29 

5 

18 
24 
15 
17 
16 
10 
10 

23 
II 
10 
10 

24 
12 



77 
24 

49 
22 

7 
37 



52 
29 

5 
46 

49 
40 
61 
14 
64 
44 
26 

52 
38 
12 
62 

43 
62 
10 
44 
94 
43 
56 
44 
19 
50 
50 
19 
44 
20 
30 



676 11,504 



NUMBER OF 
CHILDREN AT- 
TENDING SCHOOL. 



1876. 1884 



1,782 

355 
508 

105 
465 
658 

1,535 
572 
151 

2,487 
146 
564 
448 
19S 

1,001 

1,130 
228 

2,103 
556 
131 

1,353 
300 

1,681 
649 
696 
576 
277 
639 

414 

317 
802 
166 
366 
336 
736 
331 



3,741 
610 

1,810 
327 

685 
1,611 

2.845 

348 
1.897 
1,200 
1,209 
1,913 

634 
2,692 

1,985 

572 

2,229 

1,531 

269 
2,885 
1,246 
3,048 
1,104 
1.425 
7,987 

938 
1,564 
1,540 

925 
1,510 
1,175 

426 

1,131 

572 

1,069 

1,514 



28,444 58.311 



Add State Apportionment. 
Total 



AMOUNT OF STATE AND 

COUNTY TAXES 
FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. 



1876. 



$7,373 50 

477 04 

1,210 40 

"3 38 

198 42 

2.271 01 
5,226 47 

46 22 
6,491 32 
6,154 29 

1,374 74 
5,013 68 

3,247 39 
2,180 90 

3,135 77 

187 40 
5,977 83 
4,884 70 

810 74 
9,728 38 
2,360 24 

660 47 
6,762 81 

993 22 

7.272 00 
9.326 84 
5,262 76 

5,535 39 
1,507 66 
3,655 06 
1.758 72 
4,483 85 
1,410 75 
1,382 II 
668 08 
2,667 04 
1,005 09 
1,216 98 
1,012 95 

Si44,725 99 
_i4,i2i_37 
;i 58,846 36 



^2,772 00 
1,781 37 
4.329 40 
3,760 00 
938 53 
3,000 00 
2,922 00 

17,701 32 

10,428 66 

1,283 07 

3,543 70 
3,562 42 
4,174 16 
3,986 24 
999 46 
2,559 96 
5,300 00 
2,128 00 
6.715 00 
5,602 41 
756 CO 
2,912 66 
5,354 00 

10,155 45 
5,613 00 
5,583 00 

13,694 31 
2.606 26 
6,943 78 
4.532 52 
3,997 25 

10,157 08 

2,442 26 

649 00 

9,630 00 

1,276 59 

^2,038 65 
1,651 07 



$187,480 58 
24,213 06 



$211,693 64 



Publisher s Department. 



WM. WHITLOCK, Publisher. 



For the benefit of our advertisers and in order to ensure a reading of their adver- 
tisements, we devote every other page, or half the space in this department, to reading 
matter of the mosfattractive nature, thereby making this department one of the most 
interesting in the book. 

No advertisements will be received later than December ist of each year, and 
those received by November 1st are assured a reading notice among Items of Interest, 
or in other portions of the Annual. 

For advertising space and preferred positions in the Annual for 1887 application 
should be made at office of publication, 37-39 West 22d Street, New York City. 

ADVERTISING RATES. 

Outside Cover Page, ....... $100.00 

iMside Cover Pages, ........ 80.00 

Ordinary Pages, ........ 50.00 



INDEX TO ADVERTISEMENTS. 

PAGE. 

A. B. Shipley & Son 187 

Bail & Long ... 181 

Boston & Savannah S. S. Co 4th p. cover 

Chas. W. Campbell, Jr 185 

Disston Land Companies ^th p. cover 

English Colony of Sumter Co lyj 

Hotel San Marco t^8 

J. M. Lee 8 

London, Liverpool and CJlobe . .2d p. rover 

Magnolia Hotel 2d p. cover 

Mallory S. S. Co 3d p covei' 

Maplewood Hotel 178 

Runnymede School of Agriculture . . * 187 

Silk Farming . .. ^ 183 

St. Mark's Hotel 183 

Thos. Cook & Son 187 

Warner W. S l8q 



1,78 



A di urtist'i/i I ni:> . 



TXHTI^IEIH! 0-^eE.u^T lES: O OT ::H] Xj s . 




HOTEL SAN MARCO, 

Srp. AUGUSJIIINB, PLOI^IDA. 

The San Marco, just completed, is the largest and most elegant hotel in Florida. 
It is surrounded by forty acres of grounds, has accommodations for 600 guests, and is 
fitted with every modern convenience and sanitary appliance. It is supplied with the 
purest water and has most thorough drainage. 

Terms, $4.50 per day. Special rates for the Season.. 

Address i 0. D. SEAVEY, MANAGER. 



MAGNOLIA HOTEL, 

ST. JOHNS r^IVBI^. 

The Magnolia is the finest and most imposing building along the entire length ot 
the St. Johns River. It is situated at Magnolia, 28 miles south of Jacksonville, and its 
location is one of the most healthful and Isest drained in thj State. The grounds em- 
brace 400 acres pine and orange groves, besides a larg. garden, from which vegetables, 
strawberries and other fruits are constantly supplied. 

Terms, $4-.50 per day. Special rates for the Season. 

Address: 0. D. SEAVET, MANAGER, MAGNOL IA, CLAY CO., FLORIDA. 

THE MAPLEWOOD, 

BETHLEHEM, NEW HAMPSHII^E. 

The Maplewood, the Palace Hotel of the \Vliite Mountains, has accommodatiQns 
for 500 guests, and ranks as one of the finest summer hotels in the country. 

Terms, $4-.50 per day. Special rates for the Season. 
Address; 0. D. SEAVEY, MANAGER, MAPLEWOOD, GR4FT0IT CO.. KEW HAMPSHIRE. 



Items of Interest. 



ORANGE CULTURE. 

How is land cleared ? 

Cut down trees, sell the saw logs if near a mill, burn out roots and all refuse, 
and your land is cleared ready for the plow. If a non-resident has to hire this 
done, upon heavily wooded land it will cost him from $25 to $30 an acre. 

How many acres should a settler of limited means purchase ? 

Five or ten acies of grove is all that a man of moderate means and ambition 
has any business with ; it is all he can take care of. If he has only .$2,000, it 
would be well for him to buy ten acres and set one-half out to grove and raise 
small fruit and vegetables, if land is suitable, on the other half until his grove 
gets into bearing. 

How many orange trees are set out to the acre? 

There is a great difTerence of opinion among orange growers ; the extremes 
being 50 and 100. Groves set out with trees 30 feet apart have 50 to the acre ; 
25 feet apart give 65 to the acre ; 20 feet apart, about 90 to the acre, and 18 feet 
apart give about 100 to the acre. As the trees grow old they naturally need more 
room for their tops and roots. The largest showing in a fe^v years, are from the 
orchards with trees close together. In the long run, however, the opposite course 
will secure the best results. Tweniy-hve feet apart is considered a desirable 
compromise between the two extremes. 

How old should orange trees be when they are set out? 

Three to four years. If sour stock is used it should be budded with sweet 
varieties when two years old, and set out when four years old. 

How large are the nursery oiange trees when set out? 

About one inch in diameter near the ground. Experiments have been made 
with comparatively large trees, when a bearing grove was desired in a very short 
time, but it requires extreme care, is expensive, and often fails. 

/ want to avoid hard manual labor, such as we have to do on a fann north.. 
Can I get a living while an orange grove is growing, and at what kind of labor ? 

This is a question often asked, and difficult to answer, as it depends entirely 
on circumstances. There is always a demand for skilled labor, such as that of 
the carpenter, and of unskilled labor in the clearing of other's land and the culti- 
vation of the groves of non-residents. It would be safer, however, to depend upon 
the raising of pineapples, strawberries, cabbages, etc., etc., which can be sent to 
New York in January, and sold at fancy prices. The man, however, who desires 
to "avoid manual labor " should invest in the New Jerusalem, as it is doubtful 
whether he can be suited in Florida. 

Hozv soon should orange trees begin to bear after being set out? 

Supposing the stock to be four years old when transplanted, the budded trees 
will begin to bear a little in three years, and the seedlings in four or five years, 



i8o Items of I Hi crest. 

but this depends largely upon soil and fertilizing, etc., etc. After they begin to 
bear it will take two or three years longerWor them to be old enough to yield a 
paying crop. 

IVIiat do yoti mean by a paying crop / 

So that it will pay for its own care and something besides. When a grove is 
four years old its trees ought to average loo oranges each, and these are worth 
nearly one cent each on the trees. 

If a tree tliat lias been planted four years ought to Inar too oranges, loliat 
should be tJie reasonable expectation of annual increase where best of care is 
given ? 

50 per cent, per annum, or s:iy 

At 4 years too oranges 

" 5 " 150 

" 6 " 225 

" 7 " 338 

" 8 " 500 

" 9 " -. 750 

" 10 " 1125 

What 7voutd be the net value of a crop of oranges from a 20 year old grove pef 
acre ? 

If the trees are set out 25 feet apart, the 65 trees, with say 4,000'oranges to the 
tree (an under estimate), would make 260,000 to the acre, which at f of a cent 
each, would make the crop worth $1,050. The probabilities would be that it 
would be worth nearer $2,500. This income would therefore be ten per cent, 
upon a value of twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars per acre ; and this, in one 
sense, is what the grove is really worth per acre when it is 20 years old. 

Can the orange tree become too old to be profitable ' 

A five-year-old grove begins to be profitable. A ten-year-old grove is very 
valuable ; while one 20 or 25 years old is as good as a gold mine. Trees 50 years 
old bear from 8,000 to 10.000 oranges each, and a five-acre grove of such trees 
would give an income that would make its owner an aristocrat. [Why didn't 
your father go to Florida and set out a five-acre grove 40 or 50 years ago ? Your 
sons' father could do it yet. — Ed.] Harriet Beecher Stowe's grove is about 
45 years old and is one of the oldest in Florida ; but in southern Europe trees are 
growing which are over 200 years old. 

What are some of the best records made by orange trees ? 

From 3,000 to 10,000 oranges upon a single tree. A tree 12 or 15 years old, 
which has had ^^(?^ care, should yield 3,000 oranges. A tree 20 or_25 years old 
should have 5,000 oranges, while the trees that bear 8,000 or 10,000 are 40 or 
50 years old. 

Could one make an orange grove in five rears so that it luould be profitable ? 

Mr. O. N. Hull has 160 acres of grove at De Land, Fla., and it is reported that 
in January and February of 1886 he expects to pick over 10,000 boxes of oranges. 
A part of this grove has been set out four years, and a part five years. It is all 
located upon high pine lands. 

What cotild a nonresident get for his oranges on the trees, the purchaser to do 
his own picking and marketing ^ 

About J of a cent each on the average. It is estimated that one can buy land 
at $50 an acre, and raise oranges and sell them at [ of a cent each on the trees 
and ilien make 20^0 on the investment. 



A dvcrl iscments. 1 8 E 



LEROY D. BALL 



►iJAND^^ 



RICHARD a LONG, 



OF TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, 

have had a number of Old Plantations placed in their 
hands to be sold. 

These plantations are located on rolling clay lands, 
embracing hills, valleys, plateaus and meadows. They 
are generally cleared, and are especially suited to 

STOCK RAISING 

in connection with fruit o-rowinof and general farming. 

Prices range from $7 to $10 per acre for tracts of 1,000, 
2,000 or 4,000 acres, lying from 6 to i5 miles from Talla- 
hassee. For small sized farms, nearer to town, prices range 
from $2 5 to $30 per acre. 

Letters addressed to Messrs. Ball and Lono- Talla- 
hassee, Florida, will receive prompt attention, and if 2 5 
cents in stamps are sent, the writer will receive in return a 
copy of a pamphlet descriptive of Leon County, Florida^ 
published by the Leon County Farmer's Club. 



i82 Ilcuis of Interest. 

Is there much difference in different yeats in the size of orange crops, i. c, are 
there '''off" years, as there are with apple f'^ 

No! it is the remarkable characteristic of orange culture that when the orange 
trees once begin bearing, the yield is a reliable crop each )-ear. 

IIo7i' are oranges shipped safely by rail from Floiida, cohere the mercury is in 
the go'j, to the North, ivhere it may be below zero? 

By the use of refrigerator cars, especially arranged for the purpose. In these 
cars, by properly combining ice to insure cold, with hay to insure warmth, and 
with agents scattered along the route at difTerent points to insure care, every 
danger is overcome, and fruit is delivered at northern points in zero weather in 
perfect order. 

Hoiv can a small orange gro7cer market his fruit? 

Through the agency of the Florida Fruit Exchange at Jacksonville, Fla., a 
company of leading orange growers who have combined to protect their interests 
in the forwarding and sale of their fruit. Their agent at Jacksonville has daily 
telegraphic reports of state of market at all business centers, and ships all con- 
signments to him, in the light of information thus received, to the agents of the 
Exchange in northern cities, who sell and report, and proceeds are promptly 
remitted. Small growers' chances are as good as large under this system. 

What is the dura/ion of the orange shipping season ? 

From November ist to April ist, but December, January and Februarv' are 
the busiest of the season. 

Are oranges picked while green, so that they ivill ripen while being ti-ans- 
ported ? 

No ; the orange is not so perishable as the apple. The orange picked from 
the tree is no riper or better than the orange on the fruit-stall in the North. 
Occasionally a grower becomes anxious to realize on his crop, and picks his 
oranges too soon. 

Do oranges have to be picked as soon as they are ripe ? 

No ; an orange that is entirely dead ripe in December will hang on the tree 
until March, and is ready at any time to be picked and shipped. It is not good 
for the next crop to leave them on the trees after they begin blossoming in 
March. 

Are sour oranges of any use / 

Every resident leaves a few of his sour (natural stock) trees unbudded, as a 
few sour oranges are desirable for orangeade and inarmalade — the fruit is hand- 
somer and larger than the sweet orange, and a few of these trees are often left 
about the houses for ornament. Very little, if any, of the sour natural fruit is sent 
north by any responsible shipper. 

/dow can I get Florida oranges frotn my local fruit dealer ? 

Demand them ! You should remember, however, that the demand is in excess 
of the supply, and immense quantities of foreign oranges are sold as " Floridas " 
after the Florida crop has been exhausted. 

/ ha-iC frequently seen wagon loads of small sour Floiida oranges huckstered 
abotit the streets at very cheap rates, but which were dear at any price. 

There is not one chance in a thousand that they were Florida oranges at all. 
The huckster was probably lying, that is all ! Instead of being prejudiced against 
Florida fruit by this deception, however, the wise man will reflect that, if the repu- 



Advertisements. 1 83 



St. Mark's Hotel, 

(Opposite Post Office), 

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. 



CONVENIENT TO ALL THE 

St. John's River Steamboats. 

Take Street Cars at Railroad Depots. 
Rate, $2.50 to $3.00. 



SILK FARMING 

Mrs. SLLSU CiLLL ZdOUG. 

The most complete manual on silk culture ever published, has lately 
been issued, under the above title, by Mrs. Ellen Call Long, of 
Tallahassee, Florida. If the beginner would learn how to make 

SILK FARMING PROFITABLE 

he should procure this fascinating little book, study its precepts, and 
follow its rules. Price, per 1^000 Copies, $100. Price, per Single 
Copy, 25 Cents. Address, 

Mrs. ELLEN CALL LONG, Tallahassee, Fla. 



184 Itctns of Interest. 

tation of fruii from Florida is so high, the only way to sell inferior fruit is to call 
it Florida fruit. The fraud is really a compliment to this State. 

How can I prevent myself being "sold" by Iiaving itifcrior oranges palmed off" 
on me for Floridas ? 

Purchase only from a reliable dealer if you cannot judge for yourself, and do 
not think you are being swindled when he asks more for the Floridas than for 
those from Louisiana or for the imported varieties. The Florida orange culture 
is as yet in its infancy and cannot supply the demand. Any one who has eaten 
a good specimen of our fruit will not afterwards take any other. 

/ am a A^orthern dealer and am troubled by ha7niig my oranges frozen ; ho-v can 
I remedy the difficulty? 

Oranges shipped in the hulls of steamers to New York City cannot freeze. 
Those forwarded bj' express from New York are reasonably sure of a safe and 
unfrosted journey. If an orange becomes frozen it should be put in <:<?/(/ water or 
a cold room until the frost comes out. 

What time of the year should I expect to find the best Flonda oranges on sale 
in the N'orth? 

In February and March and possibly April. The longer they hang on the 
trees the sweeter they grow, and the late picked oranges will be found much 
sweeter than those picked in November, December and January. 

Are the larger oranges better than the smaller? 

The medium sizes are generally the choicest, as the largest are apt to be coarse 
flavored, and the smallest ones do not secure enough of the sun (from their posi- 
tion on the trees) to fully mature in size. Probably the very sweetest orange that 
is marketed is the rusty coated and rather ill-looking orange, which might be con- 
sidered inferior by an amateur. 

Ho7V can I tell a S7veet orange when I see it? 

The skin is smoother and thinner, and they should he much heavier, the weight 
being evidence of juice. There is much difference among sweet oranges; those 
from young trees are not as sweet as those from old trees ; those picked in 
November and December are not as sweet as if ihey were allowed to hang on the 
trees until February and March. Unlike the apple, they will not drop when ripe, 
but hang on the trees awaiting the time when the grower thinks he can obtain the 
best prices, and all the time they are growing sweeter in the sun. 

Occasionally one comes across an orange that does not scetn to have a/ry juice 
and is almost dry. What is the trouble with it? 

It may be because it is from a grove in the northern portion of Florida or some 
other State where it has been slightly touched by frost. Frost will make the juice 
leave the fruit and go back to the tree and stay there. It is more probable, how- 
ever, if it is a Florida orange, that it is from a grove where the owner has not 
given the grove any fertilizer to eat. The success of such an experiment is very 
much like that of tiie man who tried to get along without feeding his horse. There 
are frauds of this kind even in Florida (we confess it with tears), but one such 
experiment is generally enough for the grower, as he finds that such fruit does 
not sell. The wav to detect these oranges is to " heft" them in your hands ; pick 
out the thin-skinned heavy fruit and you will be all right. 

Are there many varieties of sweet oranges? 

Yes, over 30. To most of the tourists "an orange is an orange," and they 
pass an opinion, upon oranges in general, with about the same accuracy that a 
southern man would who should describe all apples as being like a Russet that 



Advertisements. 185 

IMPORTANT TO INVESTORS 

CHAS. W. CAIVLRBKL Jr., 

Surveyor & Inspector of Lands, 
Union Block, - - - Oeala, Fla. 

Will furnish reliable "iusidc" information concerning the lands and properties 

of the following companies : 
FLORIDA RAILWAY AND NAVIGATION CO. 

FLORIDA LAND AND IMPROVEMENT CO. (Disston purchase.) 
FLORIDA LAND AND MORTGAGE CO. (Reed purchase.) 
FLORIDA LAND AND IMPROVEMET CO.. of New Jerse 
(Lands of Donnell, Lawson & Simpson.) 
MARION LAND AND IMPROVEMENT CO. 
(New England Colony at Belleview.) 
HOMOSASSA COMPANY. (In Hernando County.) 
Such information being based upon personal inspection and surveys, I make 
choice selections from above lands for those desiring to invest, guaranteeing the 
quality to be as represented. 

Will accept commissions to examine and report upon any piece of property in 
East and South Florida. 

BARGAINS FOR CASH IN MARION COUNTY. 
Good, high rolling Pine Lands, distant 1 to 3 miles from the towns of Belle- 
view, Candler, Whitesville and Lake Weir, each of which is a thriving and grow- 
ing community, having churches, schools, post-office, stores, railroad and 
telegraph. In shoil distance of famous Lake Weir, Boating and Fishing. 

No need to go into backwoods for cheap lands, as these lands are sold in 40 
acre tracts at the low price of $4 to $6 an acre. Terim rmh, <>r instalments. 



Map of MARION CO. and List of Great Bargains 

will be mailed free on application with stamp from Wio^a living out of the State. 

To persons applying at my office these maps are sold at the rate of 35 cents 
each, or $3 per dozen. 

Agent in Ocalafor lands of FLORIDA RAILWAY & NAVIGATION CO. 
$1.50 to $8 an acre — cash or instalments— which is beyond all doubt the most superior 
Public Land Grants ov Piirnhase in Florida. 



MARION LAND AND IMPROVEMENT CO. 

Superior Hammock and Pine fjunds in small tracts. Residence and Business 
Lots in the wonderful new town of iielleview, which I claim has the Best Lands, 
Best Tributary Country, Best Material Growth, Best Solid Promise for the 
Future of any interior town of its age in Florida. 



CHAS. W. CAMPBELL JR, C. E., 

Greneral Land Agent, 
Union Block, - _ _ OCALA, FLA. 

All Kinds of Land Surveying and Mapping Promptly 

Executed and by Contract. 

Returns property for assessment and pays taxes for non residents. All kinds of 

Florida Property Bouu-ht and Sold on Commission. 



1 86 Items of Interest. 

he had just eaten. Some of the best varieties are Mag^num Bonum, Homasassa, 
Stark's Favorite, St. Michaels, Belle, OM Vini, Navel, Seedless and Maltese 
Blood. Let the "honest doubter" get a heavy, medium sized, thin-skinned Mag- 
num Bonum orange which has been picked from an old tree in February, and he 
would not exchange it for a peck of the best imported fruit. 

What are Mandarin and Tangerine oranges? 

The stock of the former was brought from China, and the latter from Tangiers, 
Africa. They thrive in Florida, and the fruit is shipped very early in the fall, as it 
matures before other varieties. The trees are very small, and the fruit is corres- 
pondingly small. They are called "kid glove" oranges, as a lady can eat one 
without removing or soiling her gloves. The skin is loose, and is easily removed. 
and the sections of the orange almost fall apart, so loosely do they grow. They 
bring a very high price. 

Is it as profitable to raise lemons as oranges ? 

Some people think so. They are more tender, and grow on a smaller tree than 
the orange, hence do not have so large a yield ; but it is possible to secure tioo 
crops a year (the orange has but one crop), and the culture of lemons is increasing 
from year to year. The Florida lemon has to compete directly with those imported 
from Sicily, and are on the same grade as to quality, while the Florida orange is 
vastly better than those imported. 

Is there any difference betzveen the northern part and center of tJie State in rais- 
ing oranges ? 

If you visit Florida to investigate orange culture, you will have to go south of 
Palatka to see if at its best. 

What propot tion of the State of Florida is adapted to orange ctiU.jire ? 

Probably one-quarter of the entire State is wholly worthless by being under 
water ; then the northern part of the State is not sufficiently secure from frost to 
make it a safe investment. (J)nly a portion of what remains, or probably not more 
than one tenth of the State, could be said to be adapted to the raising of oranges. 
Published statistics of the State show that of the 59.000 square miles in the State, 
over half, or 31,000 square miles, are '"low lands." Land must be high enough 
so that the roots of the orange tree will not reach down into standing water, if 
fruit is desired. Trees will grow all over the State, but fruit will not mature 
except where the conditions are right. 

Why cannot they raise as good oranges in Southern Europe as you do in 
Florida ? 

It is probably due to the difference in climate. Whatever the reason is, the 
difference in the fruit is very decided. One of the best evidences of the superior- 
ity of the Florida orange is that dealers frequently try to sell foreign fruit by 
calling it Florida. In Europe they are now budding into their trees the varieties 
they have obtained from us. 

/;/ 7vhat respect is the Florida orange h.ltcr than those imported from Spain oi' 
Sicily ? 

Try them and see. Be sure to get a good specimen of each. — Emporia ( Fla.J 
Gazette. 



Advertisements. 187 

THOS. COOK & SON, 

■» TOURIST AND EXCURSION AGENTSf 

(ESTABLISHED 1S41.) 

OHiPK- oirpir>p<5i26l BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
CHItl- <->^FH-Ei>. j LUDGATE CIRCUS, LONDON. 

JACKSONVILLE, FLA., 69 WEST BAY STREET. 



TOURIST TICKETS for the Single Journey or Round T-iip for Individual Travelers to and from 

all parts of 



Including the St. John's River, St. Augustine, Palatka. Sanford, Entepnse, Tampa, The Ocklawaha 

River, The Indian River, 

TO KEY WEST, HAVANA, NEW ORLEANS, MEXICO, Etc., Etc., 

BY THE i;kst li.vf.s fop. 



Staterooms and Sleeping Cab Berths Reserved. 

Full Programmes with Maps and all NucEssAitv Information sent Free on Applioatiox. 

Passage Tickets by all chief Lines of Ocean Steamers, 

Tickets Issled to all parts of the Globe. 



THOS. COOK & SON, 

69 West Bay Street, Jacksonville, Fla. 201 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 

THE PHILADELPHIA FISHING TACKLE HOUSE. 




MANUFACTURERS OF FINE FISHING TACKLE OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. 
Tackle for Fishing in Florida Waters a Specialty. 
Our celebrated Bethabara Wood Rods are stronger than Split Bamboo, and as tough and elastic as 
tempered steel. _ 

A. B. SHIPLEY & SON, 

503 Commerce Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 

66|]Pages catalogue price list will be sent by mail. 



All communications to be addressed to the Superintendent of the Model Farm 
Runnymede, Kissimmee, Florida. 



-^tcRUNHYMEDE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE 3|k- 

NEAR KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA, U. S. A. 

Subjects Taught: — The Management of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Bees 
and Poultry ; Orange Growing, Sugar Planting, Truck Farming, Carpentering, 
Cooking, etc, P'or fullest particulars apply to the Secretary. Address as above. 



188 



Items of Interest. 



DISTANCE TABLES. 



{Via Mallory Steatn-ships. 



New York to Fernandina. Miles. 



L H. Barnegat 

L. H. Absecom 

L. H. Five Fathom Bank 
L. H. Fenwick Island.. . 
L. S. Winter QnaitLT.. . . 

L. H. Body Island 

L. H. Hatteras 

L. H. Cape I.ookout. . . . 
L. S. Frying-Pan Shoals. 
L. H. Cape Roman 





60 


27 


87 


35 


122 


29 
29 


151 

180 


130 

38 
64 


310 
348 
412 


90 
80 


502 

582 



New York 10 Fernandina, Miles. 



L. H. Charleston - . 


34 

6 

47 

20 
16 
14 

78 
7 


6t6 


City of Charleston up 
harbor 


the 


622 


S. B. Port Roval 


663 

683 
679 
093 

757 
764 


City of Port Royal up 
harbor 


the 


L. H. Tvbee Island 


Cit}' of Savannah up river .... 
L. H. Fernandina 


City of Fernandina 



{Via South Florida R.R.) 



Sanford to Tampa. 



Miles. 



S. & I. R. Junction 

Belair.. . .'. 

Crystal Lake ... . 

Bents 

Soldier Creek. . . . 

Longwood 

Altamonte 

Mayo 

Maitland 

Winter Park 

Wilcox 

Orlando 

Eight Oaks 

Troy 

Gatlin 

Reynolds' Mill. . . 

Pine Castle 

Big Cypress 

McKinnon 

Kissimniee 

Campbells 

Lake Locke 

Emmaton 

Davenport 



3 
4 
5 
7 
9 
12 

14 
15 
17 
20 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
29 

34 
40 

44 

52 
54 

57 



Sanford to Tampa. 



Miles. 



Haines City 

Bartow Junction. 

Auburndale 

Fitzhughs 

Acton 

Lakeland 

South End Y. . . . 

Plant City 

Cork 

Sparknian 

Seliher 

Mango 

Orienta 

East Cove 

Tampa 



6r 
68 

72 

77 



'.8 
u o 
>'3 

ir9 
I II 

115 



Bartow Branch. 



Mll.HS. 



Bartow junction. 
Winter 1 Inven. . . 
Gordon'^ville 
Bartow . . . . . 



5 
12 
17 



Items of Interest. 



DISTANCE TKSLY.^.— Concluded. 

( Via Indian RiTcr. ) 
From Titusville to Miles. Lake Worth Inlet to 



City Point 

■Mocritt 

Corea 

Rock Ledge 

*Georgiana 

*Tropic 

Eau Gallie 

Melbourne . . 

Malabar . . . . 

Micco 

Sebastian 

^Narrows P. O. [Sta. No. i, 

4 miles S.j 

St. Lucie 

Eden 

Waveland [Station No. 2,opp] 

Jupiter 

Lake Worth Inlet 

Lake Worth P. O 



Miles. 1 




14 


3 


17 


2 


19 


I 


20 


5 


25 


8 


33 


2 


35 


4 


39 


b 


45 


8 


53 


7 


6o 


6 


66 


14 


8o 


i6 


96 


5 


102 


i6 


118 


12 


130 


4 


134 



Miles. 



House of Refuge No. 3 

Hillsboro' Inlet 

House of Refug-e No. 4 

New River Inlet 

House of Refuge No. 5 

Narrows (Nonows'j Cut [Mi 

ami opp.] 

Bears (or Beaus') Cut 

Cape Florida 

Soldier Key 

Elliott's Key 

Key Largo 

Newport P. O 

Key West 



30 
100 



Situated on east side of the river. 



25 
40 

51 
57 
74 

80 

84 
go 

95 
103 
III 
141 

241 



FROM CANAVERAL LIGHT HOUSE 

(BURN ham's landing) 



North. 

To Head of Banana River 

West Mouth Banana Creek 

Titusville , 

South. 

George's Island 

Dr. Wittfeld's (east landing) . 

South End Merrill's Island 

Total distance from Burnham's Landing to Titusville Wharf via South 
End Merritt's Island 



9 

20i 
2S| 



12 

13^^ 
23 

57S 



Canaver.al Light House is situated in latitude 28° 27' 3797" ; longitude 80" 34' 
25.03", being directly east of a point 6 miles north of City Point posioffice. 



[tcvis of Interest. 

Every specie of fish lias its regular hours for feeding, but bass and pickerel digest 
their food the soonest, and ai-e therefore almost akvays hungry. A pike or pickerel 
weighing ten pounds will pull a dead weight of twenty pounds off a level bank when 
hooked. These same fish have been known to jump at least four feet clear of the 
surface and to throw themselves from one pond into another. Fish can see at night just 
as well as a cat. Does a fish ever sleep? He does. If you will watch a gold fish for 
a day or two you will find hun taking occasional naps. If man could invent some way 
to get up a race between fishes the result would astonish you. A pickerel is probably 
one of the swiftest of our fresh water fish. He moves for a short distance so fast that 
you simply see a flash. Almost every species of fish can see on all sides and behind hijii 
as well as in front. Their gills are the most delicate filters in the world. Every tooth 
in the mouth of a fish which preys upon other fish is set in such a way that every at- 
tempt to escape fastens the victim more firmly. A redhorse or mullet, weighing five 
pounds, could not take a small apple into its mouth. A pike weighing three pounds 
could almost swallow a man's fist. When a bass is first hooked, he will run towards 
you. A sheepshead or dogfish will jump for the surface. A mullet v/i!l dive for the 
bottom. 

The interesting ruins, to be seen a few miles back of New Smyrna, are not those of 
old Spanish forts, as many people are led to suppose, but are the remains of ante-bellum 
sugar mills. This, however, does not deti"act from their picturesqueness. 

The view from the roof of the State capitol at Tallahassee is the finest in Florida. 

That the name "orange" is a favorite one in Florida may be suspected from the 
following list of places in ihe State bearing the name : Orange County, Orange, Orange 
City, Orange Lake, Orange Park, Orange Mills, Orange Grove, Orange Tree, Orange 
Bend, Orange Dale, Orange Heights, Orange Springs — and doubtless there are many 
more that have not yet reported. 

" \Vliat is the difference between a cabbage and an orange?" 

"I don't know; do you V pleasantly answered the man. 

"You don't? Well, you would be a nice fellow to send after oranges, wouldn't 

you ?" 

Any young Englishman visiting Fruitland Park, in Sumter County, will find him- 
self in the midst of a charming and congenial circle of fellow countrymen, who have 
settled there under the guidance of Mr. G. Chetwynd Stapylton. 

Near Lake Land, on the line of the South Florida Railway, there stands an orange 
tree that, during the past summer, displayed four crops of fruit, all of one season's 
growtli, hanging from its branches at the same time. The first crop was golden and 
ripe ; the second green, but full sized ; the third half grown, and the fourth about the 
size of a musket ball. 

Sportsmen in Florida soon discover that only the most unremitting care will keep 
their weapons from rusting in the all-pervading dampness. 

It is stated that unimproved orange lands in Italy are worth a thousand dollars per 
acre, and that the price of orange lands in California is rapidly approaching that figure. 

Maps or tracings of public lands for sale in Florida, as well as lists of such lands, 
may be procured by application to Chas. A. Choate, Tallahassee, Florida, who will 
furnish them at reasonable rates. 

Last season's crop of fruit from a nine acre orange grove on the Indian River was 
di>posed of for $10,000 on the trees. The Spear Grove, near Sanford, thougk only 
five acres in extent, yields an aimual income of from $15,000 to $20,000. 

In going up the St. Johns, by steamer, 208 landings are passed between Jacksonville 
and Sanford. 



Advertisements. loi 

— ^THE^^s — 

ENGLISH COLONYofSUMTER COUNTY 

-On the FLOKIDA SOUTHERN RAILROAD, between Fiuitland Park and Conant. Lakes and hlgb 

rolling pine lands, health, scenery and society. For Particulars of the Colony and Lands 

in CENTRAL and SOUTHERN FLORIDA, and general information, address. 

STAPYLTON & CO., 

^■"sDelaSav St.. WESTMINSTER.) GARDENIA, p. O. FRUITLAND PARK, 

Lo^■Do^f, England. ( SUMTER CO., FLORIDA. 

Members of the National Association of Real Estate Dealers of America. 
A General LAND AGENCY and INVESTMENT Business conducted. 



Properties inspected and reported on in any part of the State. Groves planted and cared for 



A Great Art Journal 

FOR ONE DOLLAR. 

The Art Interchange, with three (3) handsome colored plates, will be sent on 
trial for three months to any address for above amount. 

The Art Interchange is the handsomest and most practical of any art journal. 
It offers fortnightly hints on decoration, numerous working patterns of the full 
size for'art work of all kind of embroidery, painting, wood-carving, repousse or ham- 
mered_brass-work and a magnificent colored plate in every alternate issue. 

It answers any question in its notes and queries department, and thus anticipates 
the difficulties of others and at the same time gives innumerable hints and suggestions 
to art workers. 

Established eight (8) years. 

The acknowledged authority. 

Always independent and ever progressive. 

The cheapest as well as the best. 

Doubling its circulation yearly. 

Price only $3.00 a year. | For six mouths $1.6*5. 

Sample copy sent for only 20 cents with one of the handsome colored 
platesatid catalogue of art books. Address, 

WM. WHITLOCK, Publisher, 

37 & 39 West 22d Street, New York. 



t^n 



A dvertisements. 



*PALMA SOLA, FLORIDA,* 

The Youngest and Largest Town in the State. 

CITY LOTS AT LOW PRICES. 



5)760,000 ACRESs 

In thb most Tropical Pakt of the State, the Property of the 

Fla. Land and Improvement Co.. 

Fla. Southern Railroad Co., 

Fla. Land and Mortgage Co. of London, 



Palraa Sola is provided with a saw mill, planing mill, fine hotel, the largest and 
best stocked store in the Gulf Coast, and the most extensive fisheries in Florida. It 
is in daily connection with the Railroad at Tampa, by means of the fine swift steames 
" Margaret," which makes the 36 mile trip down Tampa Bay in two and a hall 
hours. Do not leave Florida without seeing Palma Sola, or you will always regret. 
having done so. 



Prices from $1 .25 to $20.00 Per Acre. 



w, s. \varne:r, 

LOCAL AGENT, 

N£fy YORK OFFICE: Palmo Sofo, Manatee Co., FJorida. 

33 SO. WILLIAM ST., N. Y. CITY. 



Send for Circulars andlPamphlets. 



TO FLORIDA 

BY THE 

Mallory Steamship Line, 

Without Change, 
between 

Nezv York 
and Fernandina. 

SAIJJN-(r FROM IVEJV YORK, PIER 21, EAST RIVER, 

Every TUESDAY and FRlDAY-30'clock p. m. 




■STEAMERS arrive at FERNANDINA Tuesday morning, where direct 
connection -is made with the FERNANDINA and JACKSONVILLE SHORT LINE 
for TACKSONVILLE and all points on the ST. JOHN'S, OCKLAWAHA, INDIAN 
and HALIFAX RIVERS, and with FLORIDA RAILWAY AND NAVIGATION 
CG'S SYSTEM, which reaches nearly every point in the State. 



SAILING FROM FERNANDINA, FLA. 

Every WEDNESDAY and SATURDAY. Evening. 

After arrival 0} Trains from JACKSONVILLE and CEDAR KEYS. 



i;^" PASSENGERS from points on ST. JOHNS RIVER arrive in JACKSON- 
VILLE on THURSDAY morning, and'take the .MORNING or AFTER- 
NOON train for FERNANDINA. 

I[^" PASSENGERS landed on STEAMERS' WHARF, and .step at once on board 
STEAMERS, where DINNER IS SERVED AT 6 P, M. 

IIt^~ BAGGAGE transferred FREE from Boat to Train, at J.ncksonville, and checked 
through to New York. 

i^=- THROUGH TICKETS, SINGLE or EXCURSION, on sale at all principal 
points in Florida, also points NORTH and EAST. 

STATE ROOMS secured in advance by all agents of connecting Lines. 
FREIGHT RATES as low as the lowest. Through Bills of Lading issued. 
ALL [UST CLAIMS PROMPTLY SETTLED. 



For Rates of Freight and Passage, Maps, Printed Matter and general information, 

apply to 



C. H. MALLORY & CO., Gen'l Agt's. 

Pier 20, East River, N. V. 

^^ETH SPRAGUE, 

3 Old State House, Boston. 
A. McMURTRIE, Agent, 

1O4 Walnut St., Philadi-lphia, 



FORCE & WATERBURY, Ag'ts., 

104 Walnut St., Baltimore. 

JOHN RICH, General So. Agent, 

Jacksonville, Fla. 
R. W. SOUTHWICK, Ageat, 

Fernandina, Fla, 



THE ONLY DIRECT STEAMSHIP LINE. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



DISSTON LAND COMP..':""^^ 



Florida Land and Improvement Company, 

A. & G. C. C. and Okeechobee Land Co., 
Kissimee Land Company. 



2.500.000 ACRES CHOICE LANDS, 

For Sale in East and Sbilth Florida, adapted to the Cultivation of Oranges and all 
kinds*of Tropical Fruits, Sugar-Cane, Rice, Etc. 

PRIC^ $1.25 PER ACRE AND UPWARDS. 

Full Informa^icm and Circulars forwarded on application. Address 

No. 305 WALNUT STREET, 
'"^^^IH"^^'' \ PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



BOSTON AND SAVANNAH 
STEAMSHIP COMPANY. 

Direct Weekly Steamship Line between BOSTON and SAVANNAH, and all 

POINTS IN FLORIDA. 

Unsurpassed passenger accommodations at following rates : 
First-Class Passage, $20. Steerage Passage, $12. 

THE MAGNIFICENT IRON STEAMSHIPS, 



City of Macon and Gate City, 



Will sail alternately every Thursday, at 3 p.m., from Nickerson's Wharf, Congress 
Street, and every Thursday, on tide, from Savannah. 

Insurance effected by this Company at J^ of i per cent. 

Through Rates of Passage and Freight to all points in Florida and the South. 

For Freight or Passage apply in Boston to 

WM. H. RING, Nickerson's Wharf, or 
A. De W. SAMPSON, 201 Washington Street, Agent, or to 

RICHARDSON & BARNARD, Savannah, Ga. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 499 036 5 • 



